Links

Here you will find links and comments regarding some sites you might find of interest. I will be continually updating this page and adding new links as I come across them, so check back often. Send new links you would like to see included to admin@westerntrailrider.com.

Outfitters and Guide Services

Oleo Guest Ranch, Lake City, Colorado, offers a truly “off-the-grid” experience, with rustic cabins at 10,500 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Corrals are provided free with cabin rentals. Tell them you found them through Western Trail Rider.

Hondoo Rivers and Trails, Torrey, Utah, is an outfitter in south-central Utah, where great trails are abundant and the scenery never ends. Tell them Tony from WTR sent you.

Cache Creek Outfitters, Bozeman, MT, for guided or outfitted trips into and around Yellowstone NP. Let them know you found them on Western Trail Rider.

Websites and Forums

Pete Ramey’s hoofrehab.com, is a good resource for horse hoof health, highly educational for those of us who do our own hoof care..

Back Country Horsemen of America is a great organization, dedicated to the preservation and promotion of horse access to public lands in the United States of America. Check the site, find the chapter in your area, and become a member. Check out their facebook page as well. The Hi-Line and Hobbles chapter covers Utah Valley and has a very nice site with a lot of information about horse use on public lands in Utah.

Trailmeister, The Horse Rider’s Resource, is a great website, well-stocked with great information for all of your trail riding needs. The site has the largest directory of designated horse camp sites and trails in the country, organized by state. You can also find transportation regulations by state on the site.

Horseforum.com is a forum on which you can find just about any horse-related information you might want. Give it a try. There’s something for everybody and a lot of very knowledgeable folks to help you.

The Arizona Trail has an excellent website. For members, there is an interactive map that contains tons of great information about the trail. There is a forum and even an online store. Not much information from horse people on the forum, but there are a lot of available contacts for them. They sell a CD with all the topo maps for the entire 800-mile trail, for $15 (+$5 shipping). I bought the CD. It has all the info, except that the maps are very small. I’m wishing the maps were a larger format, so one could better focus on details of pertinent portions. Plenty worth the money, though.

The Great Western Trail has a website for the entire trail, however the information is somewhat dated and sparse. There is no information from horse/mule traffic on the forum, and only poor representations of maps, but there is some contact information available for portions of the trail.

Expedition Utah is a forum where you can find good information about trails and areas in Utah. They don’t have information specific to horse travel, but most of it carries over pretty well.

Here is a great link for a bulletin board for horse and mule trails. The website is Horse and Mule Trail Guide USA. While some of the information is outdated, it is a great resource if you are planning a trip.

Here is a link to the best leather worker forum around. Lots of good information about saddlemaking. Leatherworker.net

Here is a link for a glossary of horse-related terminology. A great help for beginners: https://www.theaterseatstore.com/blog/horse-riding-glossary

Suppliers

Here are links to several outfitters and suppliers of horse packing gear. I’ll add more links as I come across good outfitters:

Fall Creek Suttlery is a supplier of Civil War re-enactment goods. Many of their products would translate well into the horse packing and camping arena.
Trailhead Supply, Kalispell, MT
Outfitters Supply, Columbia Falls, MT
Chris Tornow, Saddlemaker, Arlington, WA
High Country Supply, Las Vegas, NV
Outfitters Pack Station, Weiser, ID
Southern Missouri Mule, Willow Springs, MO
Pack Saddle Shop, Moscow, ID
Wyoming Horses and Mules, Banner, Wy, for quality horses and mules for the mountains, as well as outfitted trail rides and pack trips, guided hunts, etc..
Buckstitch Canvas, Saddles, and Tack has some good packing and horse camping gear. In particular, they offer a very nice mule saddle, specifically geared toward packers. It is also offered with horse bars on request.

Blogs and facebook Pages

During 2013 and 2014, Anna and Gilles started a horse pack trip across South America. Much of their grip was documented on a facebook page, linked below. I followed with them and continue to have occasional contacts with Anna. What a trip they made! It was inspiring to me. While they have finished their trip and haven’t updated the page since 2014, it is still up and as interesting as ever to read. Take a look. See their facebook page at “The Great Horse Trip“.

I just added (11/09/16) a blog link to our main menu. It is Far Rider Journal at www.farriderjournal.blogspot.com. While I don’t know the author, he is a member of the Longrider’s Guild and has maintained his blog since 2008. A welcome addition to our WTR library.

Interesting facebook pages

Here are a couple facebook pages you might like. Good people, good contacts, good pictures:

Horse Trails and Camping Across America
Horse Trails in America
Extreme Outlaw Rides | Wild West Mustang Ranch
Yellowstone Wilderness Outfitters
Friends of the Missouri Foxtrotter
Hondoo Rivers and Trails