It was a cold, rainy day today, so I couldn’t get some of the things done that I needed to do, however, that presented a great opportunity to hide myself away in the workshop for a few hours.
I got a good fire going in the stove, water in the coffee pot on top to heat for hot chocolate, and started looking at the myriad of unfinished projects I need to finish.
I decided the most worthwhile thing I could do, with the limited time I had available, was to start building some jigs I will need as I get my saddle-making hobby underway. If you have been following my blog, you know I have been in the process of rebuilding several saddle trees for some time now. I am at the point now that I need some jigs in order to be able to make and duplicate some of the parts.
I need a jig to help me cut the proper angles on the cantles, where they join with the bars. I need another jig to help me cut the proper angles on pommel and cantle cuts on the bars. I need another jig to help me cut the proper arch and twist into the bars. On top of that, I need a stitching horse to help me with the hand-stitching I’m going to be doing.
Well, it took me a while to get rolling, as I tend to overthink things before I get started, but I got a couple things done.
Cantle-cut jig
I made this cantle-cut jig out of scrap 3/4″ birch plywood I had laying around. I think it is going to work ok. I just have to figure out how to set the proper angle before I start cutting on the bandsaw.
Stitching clamp
I also cut out the clamp for my stitching horse. I glued-up three pieces of 3/4″ oak, squared it up on the jointer, then cut it out on the bandsaw. I think it turned out pretty well. I made it according to several photos I have seen on the Internet. I’ve never actually seen a stitching horse before, other than in photos. I made it stand 17″ above the bench, which is just below my eye level. That should allow me to work within my reading glasses’ focal range, without having to bend over. Hopefully that will save my back a little.
The stitching clamp needs to be smoothed out a bit and have some finish put on it. I will build the bench part later this week. I still need to get a buckle for the tensioner strap and a 3″ hinge for the clamp.
I’m looking forward to getting theses jigs done. I would like to be able to get started on the saddles.
I just received a couple of nose feed bags from Trailhead Supply. I ordered a nylon mesh one and a canvas/leather one to see which I like better. Both have tags indicating they were made by Richland Yellowstone Mfg., Sidney, MT.
The mesh one seems to be made well. It has a canvas bottom and the mesh is sewn to the canvas in two places, one line of stitch low down and another near the top of the canvas, which I would suppose would add to the durability. The mesh seems to be made of thin woven vinyl lace, which appears to be pretty durable. My only concerns are the single line of stitching holding the straps to the bag and the plastic buckle. Never liked plastic buckles. A good buy at $14.95, I thought. We’ll see.
Two lines of stitching on the bottom
Only one line of stitching here
Plastic adjustment buckle
The canvas bag was a bit more expensive, at $21.95, still a good buy, comparing at $39.99 from another supplier. I would have to believe this bag will be more durable than the mesh bag, being as it is made of heavy canvas and leather. Feels like maybe a #6 canvas with high-quality leather straps and bottom, which I like. I also like the steel adjustment buckle. It won’t fold up as quite small as the mesh bag, and it’s a little heavier, but there’s not enough difference to be a decision maker. The one concern I have with the canvas bag is that the breathing panel is situated too close to the bottom of the bag for my taste. I have seen horses stop feeding in a bag, because their breathing was restricted. I’m not sure the breathing panel wouldn’t be covered up with three or four pounds of alfalfa pellets in there. If the maker were to raise the air-hole panel up about two inches, I wouldn’t have any complaints.
Inside-out, bottom double stitched
Breathing panel a little low on the bag
High-quality leather straps, well sewn to bag
Steel adjustment buckle
I’m going to give both of these some use and see which I like best. I’ll report back later.
Cribbing, not to be confused with simple wood chewing, is a stereotypical behavior in horses, in which the horse places its upper front teeth on an object and applies down pressure. As it does so, the horse makes a belching sound, then relaxes for a few seconds, before doing it all again. The primary theory behind cribbing, is that the action of applying pressure with the front teeth allows the horse to suck in a gulp of air, which somehow causes the release of endorphins in the horses system, causing a pleasurable sensation. In other words, it’s an addiction. It is considered an unsoundness in horses and causes the buildup of the lower neck muscles in some horses, which can be somewhat unattractive.
Cribbing has also been linked to other equine ailments, such as stomach ulcers, colic, flatulence, and other nervous obsessive behaviors.
Treatments for cribbing, over the years, none of which has enjoyed any consistent degree of success, involves everything from simply giving the horse more pasture time, to the wearing of restrictive cribbing collars, and even surgery to cut certain nerves and muscles in the neck to make the horse unable to crib.
Interestingly, as I have read various articles about cribbing, I only found one reference to any scientific data regarding the behavior. Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, Boston, MA, a number of years ago, experimented with injecting horses with a drug that blocks endorphins in the horse’s system. They saw a marked decrease in the horses’ cribbing while the drug was actively being administered, however the horses returned to cribbing once it wore off. That is the single reference of any kind I was able to come up with in support of the endorphin addiction theory, despite the fact that this theory has been considered doctrinal in veterinary medicine for years.
I recently came across the abstract from a paper on cribbing that indicated the belching sound one hears as a horse cribs, may be an actual belch. The study said that evidence had been produced to indicate that feeding highly concentrated feed, such as grain or sweet feed, may cause some horses to experience gastric discomfort, and that the act of cribbing may actually allow the horse to belch and release gas pressure inside the stomach, or it may stimulate the salivary glands, sending saliva into the stomach to bring relief. I could not find the link for the study again to post it.
In light of this study, it makes sense that cribbing would be associated with ailments such as ulcers, colic, and flatulence, not as a result of the cribbing, but as a result of the gastric distress caused by a sensitivity to the feed. I found an article here from the ASPCA, that discusses cribbing in more detail and more authoritatively than I can.
Robbie cribbing on his favorite pipe fence
A horse I help care for is a chronic cribber. He’s 21 years old and has been cribbing pretty much all his life. He has lived with a cribbing collar much of his life. His front teeth are worn short. He has selected a section of steel pipe fence as his favorite cribbing tool and has actually bent the pipe flat where he cribs. While cribbing he becomes so intent on what he is doing that it is hard to drive him away from the pipe fence section, and as soon as he can get around me, he goes right back to it. In the picture, you can see he is cribbing with full force, despite his tightly fitted cribbing collar.
Not long after I read the above-referenced abstract, we had a cold snap here in Virginia. I told the owners of the horse, whose son is responsible for feeding the horses, to start feeding a couple quarts of “sweet feed” (a grain feed with molasses mixed in) in the evenings, along with their normal ration of hay, to help them deal with the cold. A few days later I went by to check on the horses and found this particular horse at the pipe fence cribbing. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t seen him cribbing for many months, until then. I contacted the owners and suggested we increase the horses’ ration of hay and stop feeding the grain. I went by this past week to ride my horse and check on the other. He was calmly grazing out in the pasture.
He came up to the barn as I brushed and readied my horse for the ride. I removed his cribbing collar and tossed him a couple flakes of hay (orchard grass). I took my horse out for a 2-hour ride. When I returned, the horse was again calmly grazing in the pasture. As I unsaddled and worked on my horse for a few minutes, I watched the cribber. He walked up to his favorite pipe fence section and placed his mouth on the fence, as he normally does when he cribs, but only tried it once or twice and quit, neither did he do it with the strength he normally does (which bent the steel pipe fence), then he went right back to grazing. It appeared he tried the cribbing out of habit, rather than out of an addictive need.
From my own experience, I think I can safely say that for this particular horse, the endorphin addiction, if any exists, is less the cause of his cribbing than an upset stomach from feed that is too rich for him. Just as there are people who have sensitivities to milk, eggs, and other things that most of us enjoy, it makes sense to me that some horses may have similar intolerances to certain feeds. For this particular horse, it appears that grains and sweet feed cause him sufficient discomfort that he cribs to relieve it. When he is fed orchard grass hay he does not crib, or better said, he only does it occasionally, apparently out of old habit.
While my findings are neither scientific nor conclusive, at the very least it appears to me there may be sufficient reason to question current theories regarding chronic cribbing and to warrant further scientific study.
Here is a video of this particular horse cribbing:
A post on the facebook page for Horse Trails and Camping Across America, just sparked a memory for me from my youth. It is one of my most cherished memories and has had a strong impact on my life.
When I was sixteen years old, my father took my younger brother and me on a deer hunting trip into the Blue Wilderness Area of eastern Arizona. Since we were living in Tucson, Arizona at the time, it was quite an expedition for us. We packed up our cabover camper and our 6-horse stock trailer and three horses and headed out.
The drive took nearly all day long, and we arrived at Alpine, Arizona late in the afternoon. We took Red Hills Trail down into the Blue, toward the Blue River, stopping about 3/4 mile above the river at a level spot large enough for our rig to park. We set up camp there and spent the next couple days riding out from there.
My dad took my brother with him and I spent most of my time hunting alone. I would ride the horse to a likely looking spot, tie her to a tree, and hunt on foot. My dad had taught me how to “Navajo” to sneak up on unsuspecting deer, so I spent a lot of time sneaking around trying to be quiet. Didn’t see a thing, of course. On the second evening, Dad killed a deer, but it was too late in the day to get it out. He hung it in a tree and left it overnight. The following morning, he and I rode back in to get it.
We rode our Quarter Horses, and led a Half-Arab greenbroke fillie to pack the deer out. We had no idea how she would react to the smell of blood. When we arrived at the deer, we blindfolded the fillie. I held her while Dad worked on getting the deer up on the saddle and button-holed to the horn (we had no pack saddles or paniers at that time). The fillie stood still and caused no problems. Then my dad started tying the front and hind legs of the deer forward, near the front quarters of the fillie. She turned her head around and started sniffing the deer’s bloody hooves. We stood on-guard, not knowing what to expect. She sniffed a few seconds, then took a big old bite out of one of the deer’s feet! The next thing we know, she’s sniffing my dad’s bloody hands (bloody from getting the deer tied onto the saddle), and she takes a bite out of his hand! Well, we stopped worrying about things and removed the blindfold. We figure we had a carnivorous horse on our hands.
We started back toward the camp with dad leading the fillie and me bringing up the rear. Since we had no trail to follow, we just picked our way back. We eventually found ourselves facing a bluff, with no way around without having to go a long way around. You really couldn’t see much farther than a few feet anyway, because it was so thick with trees and brush, so picking a trail was essentially picking the best way through what was right in front of you. So, we started picking our way up this sandstone bluff. At one point the horses had to jump up a step about eighteen inches or so, then immediately jump up another one about the same height. Dad’s 16+ hand Quarter Horse handled it without problems, but when the fillie made her try, that’s when trouble started.
The fillie made the first step, but when she made her try for the second one, the deer on her back settled to the rear and pulled her over backwards. Over back she went, off the first step, and continued rolling head-over-heels down the steep bank for another thirty feet or so, ending up on her back with her feet uphill and her head against a tree. She was scared and shaking and wouldn’t move to try to get herself up.
We parked our horses where they were, tying them off to whatever we could find, and jumped down to help the poor fillie. We cut the deer off her, then got her saddle cinch loosened. We got the saddle off and checked her all over. Luckily, there were no serious injuries. In fact, she wasn’t all that beat-up, but she was so scared she wouldn’t try to get up. We ended up tying a rope around her neck and snubbing it off to a tree to give her something to brace against. We got her legs turned downhill, and she finally got up. After letting her rest and calm down for a few minutes, we saddled her up, tied the deer back on, and made our way on up the bluff and back to camp without further incident.
The last day of our hunt, Dad had a treat for us. He left my brother and me with the horses, while he drove the truck and trailer up to the top of the Blue. Then he hitch-hiked back down to us, so we could ride the horses up out of the Blue on a primitive trail. We were excited. Then Dad got back and we started saddling up. Turned out we had forgotten our bridles. They were still in the trailer. Oh well, we just made-do with halters.
The trail was, I believe, called Red Hills Trail, like the road. I doubt you can find it anymore. It was not maintained even then. You could see the trail for the most part, but often you had to look for the old blazes on trees every 50-100 feet. We ascended from about 4,500 feet to around 9,000 feet in about seven or eight miles. It was a tough trail, and pretty scary in a few places, for kids like my brother and me, but we trusted Dad and the horses seemed to take it all in stride.
We arrived at a place that leveled out for a bit at around lunchtime. I remember it because there were juniper trees there that must have been several hundred years old. Some were as much as six feet in diameter. There was grass for the horses and a beautiful vista that spread out before us. Dad pulled out a large can of Van Camp’s Pork and Beans for lunch. Then we noticed we had forgotten to bring spoons as well. Not to worry! Dad pulled out his trusty Buck pocket knife and whittled out a wooden spoon for us. We sat there in the sunshine, eating pork and beans with a wooden spoon, listening to the horses quietly munching grass in the background, and the world was right, just for a while.
I don’t remember much about the rest of the ride, except that we were a couple of tired, but proud boys when we arrived at the trailer that evening. None of us have ever forgotten that meal with the wooden spoon. It has become a tradition in my family to eat pork and beans (and other canned foods) with a hand-carved wooden spoon on campouts and pack trips, in honor of that lunch meal on the side of a mountain in the fall of 1975.
That trail ride was the beginning of my love of horse packing.
I have re-published all my previous posts. So the only thing missing is the data I lost on the forums. Hopefully the members will re-register and re-post their photos and information.
I’ve been busy remodeling the master bathroom in my house these past couple of weeks. Doesn’t leave much time for messing with the horse or working on the saddles. I’ve been trying to do some research on pack saddles, though, in the early morning and evening hours.
Since I’m going to have to put together two pack outfits for the trip, and likely have a third for a stand-by, I’m trying to decide whether to go with Decker-style pack saddles or the old standard Crossbuck packsaddles.
I have been using Crossbuck pack saddles and Utah-style paniers (big, open grocery sacks made of canvas and other tough materials), since I was in high school, so I had never even considered any other option for my Great Western Trail trip. As I started looking into suppliers for gear, though, I noticed that most of them seem to be carrying Decker-style pack saddles as their main fare and Crossbucks have taken second-seat. So, I have been asking around about the relative advantages and disadvantages of each.
Crossbuck pack saddle and rigging
The Crossbuck pack saddle has been around for a long time. I haven’t been able to come across anything that tells just how long they have been around, but suffice it to say that when one imagines an old miner with his pack donkey, in the pre-Gold Rush days, wandering around the west, dodging indians and avoiding civilization, he had a Crossbuck pack saddle on his pack animal. The Crossbuck gets its name from its configuration: Crossed wooden “crutches”, normally made of oak or some other hardwood, attached to the saddle bars, traditionally made of Cottonwood, for the horse’s back. The crossed bars looked a lot like a “sawbuck”, which is a fixture made for cutting wood, consisting of two logs or wood beams, bolted or tied together crosswise, across which the wood to be cut was laid to hold it in place.
Modern Crossbucks are solidly glued and/or bolted or riveted to the saddle bars. They are normally rigged for double-cinches and use breast straps and breeching to keep them in place on the animal. An over-sized saddle pad, normally made of mohair or wool felt covered by canvas is used to protect the pack animal’s back. Modern Crossbuck pack saddle bars are carved to fit the animal much like modern riding saddles, however, when one looks at an antique pack saddle, one can easily imagine a sore-backed pack animal. Many antique Crossbuck pack saddles simply had wide, short, flat boards for saddle bars. The rigging of a Crossbuck pack saddle hasn’t evolved much over the years. It is essentially the same as it was 150 years ago.
In the late 1800s, came along the Decker-style pack saddle, which was developed to more easily haul odd-shaped loads while protecting the pack animal. Decker pack saddles were not named for the inventor, S. C. McDaniels, an old Arapajo packer from around the turn of the 20th century, but for several brothers named Decker, who saw the utility of the new style pack saddle and applied for a patent, which, apparently, was never granted. The name Decker stuck, however, and the saddle has had that name since the early 1900s¹.
The Decker-style pack saddle, rather than using wooden crossbucks, has steel bows, arches, or hoops (take your pick as to what to call them) to which the saddle bars are attached. Modern Deckers may have saddle bars made of wood or polymers, and they may be fixed or “self-adjusting”, or able to move to self-adjust to the shape of the pack animal’s back. Deckers have several hoop configurations, to satisfy varying needs of packers.
The original Decker hoops were simply arched hoops connecting the two saddle bars. The straps from the paniers (the bags that hold the loads) are buckled through the hoops, or are attached using Decker hooks.
A Decker saddle uses an oversized saddle pad, similar to the Crossbuck saddle, however, in addition, the Decker saddle uses an Arapajo, or Half-Breed (apparently in honor of McDaniels, who is said to have been part Arapajo), which is a padded canvas pad that lays over the pack saddle, protecting the pack animal, the saddle, and the saddle pad, from the chafing of the loaded packs. The Half-Breed has slits in it, through which the hoops of the saddle protrude, allowing the paniers to be attached over top of it. The Half-Breed also has side boards installed in pockets in the lower sides of if, which help distribute the load across the pack animal’s sides and further protecting it from the chafing of the load.
Many packers also utilize a “Quarter-Breed”, which is a piece of canvas, which lays over the Half-Breed, to protect it from wear and keeping it clean. Since the Quarter-Breed is simply made of canvas, it is easily and cheaply replaced.
Decker pack saddle and rigging
The rigging of a Decker pack saddle is more adjustable than that of a Crossbuck saddle. Most Decker pack saddles I have come across have buckle adjustment available for every strap on it. A Crossbuck saddle’s rigging has few adjustments, outside of the tightening of the double cinches. The Decker’s rigging can be adjusted to move the cinch farther back, or forward, as well as use a single or double cinch. In fact, most of the Decker saddles I have seen come standard with a single cinch. Decker-style rigging appears to be more easily repairable, since it attaches to the pack saddle via D-rings, rather than being riveted or screwed to the saddle, as Crossbuck rigging normally is.
Crossbuck pack saddle tree
Crossbuck paniers, at least the ones I am acquainted with, have hanger straps that are simply leather or nylon loops sewn into the top edge of the panier. These loops are hung over the crossbuck to suspend the packs. Often there is no adjustment. They just hang where they are. You can adjust the way they hang a little by the way your diamond hitch is tied, but for the most part “they is what they is”, as they say.
Decker-style paniers are more versatile. They may have hanger straps, like the Crossbuck paniers, but they have buckles in them, so as to be able to unbuckle them and pass them through the Decker hoops. They can also be used on Crossbuck saddles, in the same way Crossbuck paniers are used, except that you can loosen or tighten the hanger straps to adjust the way the packs hang. This is useful in balancing a load, when necessary. Decker paniers can also be made, or fitted with, “Decker hooks”, which are brass, bronze, or steel hooks, made to hook onto the Decker saddle hoops. Decker hooks can greatly simplify the loading of a pack animal, particularly single-handed.
Decker hook
Decker saddles also lend themselves, depending on the hoop configuration, better than Crossbucks for “top packs.” While I have always simply loaded stuff on top of my Crossbucks, thrown a canvas tarp over the top, and tied it all into place with a diamond hitch, there are available a number of different styles of top packs, made specifically to load on top of the pack animal and the paniers. Top packs made for Crossbuck saddles are generally configured in an “H” pattern, allowing for the crossbucks. Top packs for Decker saddles are rectangular or square and have no need for the “H” shape, in most configurations, and therefore can have more space in them. Never having used one, I can imagine that it would be somewhat easier to pack and load a square pack than an “H” pack.
As for panier shape and configuration, Decker saddles are easily adaptable for a number of odd-shaped loads, from railroad ties, to hay bales, to regular Utah paniers. I have read of Decker saddles having shelves attached to them to facilitate the packing of lumber and other long, straight goods. While Crossbucks have been used to pack odd-shaped loads, over the years, the Deckers have proven to be more easily adapted and therefore more efficient. The original Decker brothers are said to have amazed many experienced packers with their efficiency in packing hundreds of tons of goods into the back country of Idaho in the early 1900s.
Packing lumber
Packing a machine gun
Now for costs. From my research, it appears a fully outfitted Decker-style saddle will run roughly $100 more than a similarly outfitted Crossbuck. The added expense is in the Half Breed and some extra leather in the rigging, with the option of adding a Quarter-Breed, if one wishes. I have recently (as of January 2013) found Decker pack saddle outfits from the low $500 to the mid $600 range, not including freight charges, if any. A fully rigged (minus cinches) Crossbuck will average about $500, give or take $40 or so. Some sellers throw in a saddle pad with either type, which is nice and effectively lowers the price of the pack saddle outfit.
Now, before I close this post, there has, actually, been some innovation in pack saddles in the past several years. In my research, I came across the record of a patent application from 2003, by a man named Summerfield. He applied to patent a new style of pack saddle that seems to capture all the good of the Decker and Crossbuck saddles and combine them into one. The new saddle, in fact, has crossbucks, but they are made of metal, each having an eye at the top of the crossbuck, to which Decker hooks or ropes can be attached, as well as being configured to allow Crossbuck-style paniers to be hung over the crossbucks.
The Summerfield saddle bars are wider than either the Decker or Crossbuck bars, and are carved to precisely follow the contours of the horse. The saddle rides on an over-sized saddle pad that has pockets on the sides to hold the saddle bars. The pockets have a closure at the top that captures the bars and holds the saddle pad securely in place. The bars appear to be attached to the crossbucks in a manner that allows them to be adjustable, however, they do not appear to be “self-adjusting.” The saddle can be easily configured for either a double or single cinch, just as the Decker can. It appears a Half-Breed and Quarter-Breed could be fitted to the saddle, as well.
I can see where the Summerfield saddle and the Crossbuck might have one failing in common, that the Decker does not share. I have read on two different sites where the author has said that in the event of a “rollover” wreck of a pack animal, the Decker-style pack saddle is much more likely to survive in usable condition than a Crossbuck pack saddle. Due to the configuration of the Summerfield saddle, I would think it might suffer damage from such a wreck.
Having said all that, I have been unable to locate a dealer who carries the Summerfield pack saddle, as yet.
So, I guess the matter comes down to this: Tradition? Do it like my father before me…and with me…or practicality? While I still have leanings toward the Crossbuck (I just like old-style stuff), the practicality and versatility of the Decker-style saddles is winning me over.
Now, being retired, and not being, by any stretch of the imagination, wealthy, I must also consider costs. I have been in this mode for many years, due to a Chief Executive Officer in my home who is an excellent money manager, my good wife (she is the reason I can be retired at all), which has led me, in many instances, to attempt to build things I want. So I am contemplating whether I want to try to build a Decker-style saddle.
I have all the tools necessary. I have the know-how to use all the tools. The Decker-style saddle is quite simple. Much simpler to build than a Crossbuck, if one has the tools to do so. I have the leather working tools to make the rigging as well. The one fly in the ointment, so to speak, is the canvas Half-Breed. I would need to find a supplier who could provide two or three…not two or three hundred…over-sized 1″ thick mohair or wool felt saddle pads measuring about 32″ by 60″ or so. Dad has the sewing machine, back in Arizona. Good excuse to go see him.
So, here we go again. Another project for me to try my hand at. I’m looking forward to it already. I’ll keep you posted.
1. Information regarding the origins of the Decker saddle were taken from information on the Outfitters Supply website. Many thanks to Outfitters Supply for such an informative and well-executed website.
2. Many of the photographs on this post were taken from outfitterssupply.com website. Others were from Google Images searches.
Just found a link to a blog about a rancher who rode a horse across the country, west to east, starting in Oregon and ending in North Carolina, in 7 months. I haven’t read the whole blog, but it looks like he followed highways and had a road crew working for him, rather than packing. Great ride! Long trip!
Occasionally, I come across a horse that, for one reason or another, does not like to be touched around the ears or face. There are a number of reasons why this might be so, but mostly it is simply a bad habit the horse has formed.
Last year I started working with a neighbor’s horse, which was once a well-trained reining horse. My friends hadn’t spent much time with the horse over the previous couple of years, and he had become a 19 year-old pasture ornament. They invited me to work with the gelding and get him back into riding shape. Right-off I noticed, as they tried to catch and halter the old fellow, that he was very hard to handle to get a halter on him. He did not like to be touched in the poll area or around his ears. After taking a closer look, I found he is required to wear a tight-fitting cribbing collar. He is one of the few true cribbers I have known. I will write another post on cribbing later.
I determined that his cribbing collar hadn’t been removed for a very long time, and that it was making him sore in the poll area, where the head is attached to the neck, up near the ears. When one tried to touch him in that area, he would pull back and raise his head and fight, making it very hard to halter or bridle him.
The mark from the cribbing collar
Here’s what I did to cure him of that:
First, I got him in a halter and removed the cribbing strap. I brushed the area and groomed the horse to calm him and get to know him a little. Next, I stood at his head, facing him, but off to the side a little, so as not to get knocked out of the way when he threw his head up. I held his lead rope, very close to the halter, with my left hand. With my right hand I started at his forehead and quickly swept my hand up and over one ear.
He jerked his head up, but by the time he reacted, my hand was already past his ear and no longer touching him.
I continued to do this until he got tired of jerking his head. I alternated ears as I continued, to get the same result with both ears. He quickly realized that jerking his head did nothing for him, since my hand was long gone before he even tried. I also had my left hand on the lead rope. Adding a little weight there made him physically tired and uncomfortable after repeatedly jerking his head up.
A horse, like any animal, including humans, is physically engineered by evolutionary development, to conserve energy. Instinctively, he wants to conserve energy. The jerking of his head quickly registers in his instinctive brain as a complete waste of energy. It gains him nothing, neither in security, nor in survival, because the perceived danger is gone before he reacts to it.
After about three or four sessions of this, lasting about 15-20 minutes or so each session, he quit reacting altogether. Once he stopped jerking his head, I began to actually run my hand up his forehead and lightly rub his ears and poll. Eventually he began to actually enjoy the attention and now he even likes the insides of his ears rubbed.
Now he likes it
Here is a video I did, that may help you understand the process better.
Often, new horse owners, and sometimes long-time owners with no formal training, have a hard time getting the bridle on a horse and getting the horse to accept the bit. Here is a short tutorial on how to properly bridle a horse.
Now, before I start, it should be understood that there are many reasons why a horse might be hard to bridle. For instance, a horse with an abscess in its mouth might find the bit very uncomfortable. A horse that is head-shy may not let you get close enough to get the bridle on its head. Once physical discomfort and other behavioral issues are ruled-out, however, using the proper technique in bridling a horse will make things much easier on the owner as well as the horse, and will eventually convince the horse that receiving the bridle isn’t such a bad thing, after all.
Now, let’s assume you have the horse haltered, standing, and ready to be bridled. Let’s do a little preparation work. Lay your hand on top of the horse’s head, just behind his ears. The horse should lower his head for you. His head should be at a comfortable working height for you as you bridle him. If he doesn’t, you need to teach him to do this. Here’s how:
Place your right hand on top of his head, just behind the ears, and with your left hand, take hold of the lead rope right at the halter. Put pressure on top of the head, while adding weight to the halter with the other hand. It doesn’t have to be a lot of pressure, just enough that the horse feels pressure and it is a little uncomfortable or irritating to him. Eventually he will bob his head a little.
Put a little weight on the halter and on the poll
When he does, and I mean exactly when he does, release the pressure from both hands and rub the horse’s neck. Do it again, and again, each time holding the pressure a little longer, asking him to lower his head a little further. Pretty soon, the horse will figure out that when you place your hand on his head at the poll (where the neck and skull meet), you want him to lower his head. You can actually train the horse to lower his head and put his muzzle in the dirt, if you want to, but I see no reason for that. I just want him to pay attention and lower his head while I bridle him.
Now, if you are going to leave the halter on under the bridle, you are ready to start. If you intend to remove the halter, unbuckle or untie it, but do not completely remove it. Instead, while retaining control of his head, let the nose band slip off his nose and rebuckle the halter around the horse’s neck. Often I will see people simply drop the halter to the ground as they bridle the horse, or wrap the bridle reins around the horse’s neck. Make it a habit to keep the halter and lead rope on the horse while bridling and always retain control of your horse. If you are out on a trail or horse camp and you completely remove the halter while bridling, the horse may well decide he’s free to wander back home and you might end up on foot for the remainder of the trip!
Now, with the halter around the horse’s neck, drop the reins on the ground, or loop them over your arm, so they don’t get in your way. Place your right forearm on top of the horse’s neck, such that your right hand is hanging over his forehead between his ears.Your forearm and elbow on the horse’s neck gives you some control while you are handling the bridle with both hands.
Hold the headstall with your right thumb
Now take the top of the headstall in your right thumb, so that the bridle is hanging with the bit below the horse’s mouth. Take the bit in your left hand and capture the horse’s muzzle between the cheek pieces of the bridle. This give you a little more control (not really, but the horse thinks it does, and that’s what counts!). Cradle the bit in your left hand, as shown in the photo below. Your thumb should be on top of the bit, with your first two fingers under the bit, and your last two fingers outside the bit shank. The chin strap should be lying on your wrist, as shown.
Cradle the bit in your hand
The way the bit is positioned in your hand is important, as you will see in just a minute. Now, drop the bridle down, by bending your right wrist (the one on the horse’s head) down, to where the bit is hanging just below the horse’s lips. Now lift with yourright wrist (not the one with the bit in it), gently lifting the bit up between the horse’s lips. Some horses, at this point will simply open their mouths and you can lift the bit right on up into position. Most, in my experience, will not, and you will need to coax them to open their mouth.
Do this by inserting your thumb between the horse’s gums in the side of his mouth.
Insert thumb into his mouth
You will feel his tongue. Wiggle your thumb a little and the horse will open his mouth. When he does, simply lift with your right wrist (again, the one on top of his head) and lift the bit into position. At this point the horse will close his mouth on the bit and hold it while you hold the bridle in place with your right hand. Check to make sure the chinstrap has come into the correct position behind the horse’s chin.
Now, holding the top of the headstall with your right hand, slip your left hand through the headstall and pull his off-side ear (the right one) through, then do the same with the near-side ear, or simply tuck it through with your right thumb. Let the headstall settle into place behind his ears. Adjust the mane and forelock, so that there are no uncomfortable tangles or lumps of hair under the bridle. Now check to make sure the brow band is in place and not covering an eye or bothering his ears. Check the other side of the bridle to make sure the throatlatch has not gotten hung up in the bridle. Now pull the throatlatch under the horse’s throat and buckle it. If the bridle has been used on this horse, or a similarly sized horse in the past, you will likely see a mark on the throatlatch where it has been regularly buckled at the correct position. Use that mark as a reference, but check anyway, to make sure it is not too tight or too loose.
Check the throatlatch fit
The only purpose of the throatlatch is to keep the bridle from slipping off over the horse’s ears, should it somehow get snagged on something, or in case the horse should try to rub it off on a tree or post. It should not be tight. Check the fit by slipping your fist between the horse’s jaw and the throatlatch, as shown in the photo. Now check to make sure the bridle is sized properly and that the bit is hanging in the right place in the horse’s mouth. If the bit is too high or too low, adjust both sides of the bridle’s cheek pieces until it is right.
The bit should rest between the horse’s gums on the bars between his front and rear teeth. Normally, you will see one or two slight wrinkles in the sides of the horse’s mouth if the bit is in its proper place. A bit that hangs too low can bang against the horse’s front teeth and become uncomfortable. A bit that sits too high can hit the molars, or allow a horse to “get the bit in his teeth”. If that happens, you can lose control of the horse in a hurry (ergo the common phrase relating to a stubborn or out-of-control person). Many horses, particularly geldings, grow “wolf teeth” just in front of their molars that can interfere with the bit and become uncomfortable if it is not in the correct position. Many owners have these teeth removed when the horse is young.
Contrary to uneducated, but common opinion, a bit is not uncomfortable in a horse’s mouth. Even the harshest-looking bit is only harsh when it is used improperly by the rider, when the horse is not trained sufficiently to the bit, or when the horse is disobedient. Many bits are made of “sweet steel” and actually taste good to the horse. Some bits have a “cricket” or roller that the horse can use its tongue to play with. This sometimes calms a horse with a nervous temperament.
Now, to properly un-bridle a horse, simply reverse the process. First, get a rope or halter around the horse’s neck. Remember, always be in control. Now, unbuckle the throatlatch. Next, put your right hand on top of the poll to ask the horse to lower his head. Now place the right hand and forearm on top of the horse’s head and neck for control. Hook the top of the headstall with your right thumb. Place your left hand under the horse’s mouth. Slip the headstall over the horse’s ears and gently lower the wrist, lowering the bit into your waiting left hand. Be careful not to bang the bit against the horse’s teeth as you lower the bit.
Maintain control of the horse’s head throughout the un-bridling process, as some horses will want to immediately spit the bit out and raise their head. Spit and run! This is a bad habit and should be stopped. If the horse attempts it, simply raise the right wrist and pull the bit back into the horse’s mouth and retain control with your forearm on the neck. Wait until the horse is compliant before removing the bit from its mouth. Removal of the bit should be a reward for good behavior, not for spitting and running.
Watch the video I made on this topic. It will help you understand some of the details above a little better.
I just had a marvelous time looking through the Outfitters Supply website! I opened an account on the site and filled my “Wish List” with more than $1,000 worth of ….er..um..equipment and supplies…for my GWT trip. You should take a look, if you are into horse/mule packing.
Crossbuck Pack Saddle with no rigging for $89. That’s probably cheaper than I could make one for, if I value my time at all. I expect I’ll be making an order fairly soon.
Canvas saddle bags
Crossbuck pack saddle tree
They also list a set of canvas saddlebags, that are very similar to a set my dad has that have lasted through more than 40 years of trail riding and packing, for $50.
All in all, guys, this is a great place to go for all your horse and mule packing needs, whether you are just getting into horse camping and packing, or a seasoned professional guide or outfitter. It’s all there.
On top of that, the site has several how-to articles about horse/mule packing and related topics that are well-worth reading.
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