Tag Archives: horse

Tack and Gear

Pack Saddles Review, based on our experience…

Those of you who have been following my blog awhile know that I did quite a bit of research on various configurations of pack saddles before finally settling on the Decker-style Phillips Formfitter pack saddles, from Outfitters Pack Station, for our Mexico-to-Canada horse pack trip. As Dad already had two crossbuck pack saddles, we ended up using my two Deckers with manties and Dad’s two crossbucks with Utah-style paniers. It’s time for my comparison and evaluation.

Crossbuck pack saddle tree
Crossbuck pack saddle tree

To provide a little background, crossbuck pack saddles, sometimes called sawbuck pack saddles, have been used in North America for at least a couple hundred years. They consist of two crossed wooden “crutches”, similar to the way a sawbuck is built, which is where the name comes from (a sawbuck is two crossed beams over which a log is laid to be cut with a saw). Paniers, which are large bags or hard-sided boxes, are hung by straps from the crossbucks. Traditionally, soft paniers, often called “Utah Paniers” were used. These paniers are often covered with a tarp, which is tied in place with a diamond hitch, which improves the water-resistance of the pack and holds items tied on top of the packs.

IMG_1184While hard-sided paniers are available and quite utilitarian, we decided to go the traditional route. That’s what Dad and I have always used and we saw no reason to change. However, during our passage through the Chiricahua mountains, one of the riders who joined us for a few days packed hard paniers on his mule and I was much impressed. In camp, these hard paniers could be converted into seats or tables. I expect I’ll eventually get a set of these and give up on my traditional bent. Also, there are bear-resistant hard paniers available from a number of suppliers, for those areas where they may be required.

Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, a new-style of pack saddle was invented, which is now commonly called the Decker-style pack saddle. The Decker pack saddle, characterized by metal bows, or arches, to which loads are strapped, has proven its usefulness over the past century, due to its versatility. hqdefault One can hang about any kind of load imaginable from a Decker-style pack saddle with a little ingenuity. This style of pack saddle eventually became the standard in the northwestern United States, while the crossbuck has remained king in the southwestern U.S.. Why this is so, I think I discovered during our pack trip and I will discuss that in another post.

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Our mustang, Jimbo, with the mantied load on a Phillips Formfitter pack saddle

For the kind of loads we carried on our pack trip, manties are used to contain the cargo, which are then tied to the Decker pack saddle. Manties are heavy canvas tarps, normally measuring about 7 X 8 feet, in which the cargo is wrapped and tied into a pack. One manty pack is tied to each side of the pack saddle to balance the load. Manties of uneven size and/or weight may be balanced by adjusting the way they are tied to the saddle. While top packs may be tied to these pack saddles, it is not commonly done, however the manties may be tied as large or small as required.  The pack saddles I finally settled on have arches that are made to handle not only manties, but also Utah Paniers.

Phillips Formfitter
Phillips Formfitter

The Phillips Formfitter pack saddle also has other features that attracted me, such as the adjustable-angle saddle bars and the fleece pads attached to the bars. My reasoning for this selection was that the adjustable bars would answer the problem of the different conformations of the several horses on which we intended to use them. Our remuda consisted of two Missouri Fox Trotters, two Quarter Horses, one mustang, and one mule, ranging from 16 hands to 13, all with very different backs among them.

My concerns with regard to this pack saddle were limited to two things: Would the adjustable saddle bars be able to hold the pack loads in place like a solid pack saddle would? And, would the narrow saddle bars, configured similar to a riding saddle’s bars, sufficiently distribute the loads on the horses’ backs, so as to avoid pressure points and saddle sores?

Before the trip, I discussed these and other concerns about the pack saddles with Wade, at Outfitters Pack Station. We also discussed whether double cinchas, such as are commonly used on crossbuck pack saddles, might be better for our trip. I decided to go with the single cincha, since that is the configuration I have seen on most Decker-style pack saddles. I figured that if they proved insufficient, I could order the double cincha rigs at the end of the first leg of our trip. On the Phillips Formfitter, the cincha rigging is changeable by simply unbuckling one and replacing it with the other. Wade also gave me some advice on setting up the rigging to ride properly on the pack animal.

During the first 200 miles or so of our trip, we knew we would be packing feed for the horses, since there is little feed available for grazing along our route in the lower desert areas of Arizona. We decided on Equidine pellets in 50 pound sacks, as it would be easy to pack in manties and to balance as a load. We started our trip with 400 pounds of feed, split among two pack horses, packed in manties on my Phillips Formfitter pack saddles. With the help of friends, we were able to re-supply with feed as needed. The rest of our gear was packed in paniers on Dad’s crossbucks. Our plan was to have two animals under riding saddle, two packed heavy, and two packed light, then rotate every day or so to keep all the horses adequately rested. We also planned for two rest days per week. On the first day, all the animals were packed pretty heavy, but the feed went down at a rate of nearly 120 pounds per day, so the packs lightened up quickly.

I set my pack saddles up according to Wade’s advice, however, both Dad and I felt the 3/4″ wool felt pack saddle pads we had were insufficient for the loads we were packing on the horses. We decided to place a regular saddle pad over top of the pack saddle pad for extra protection for the pack animals’ backs.  As it turned out, that was a mistake with the Phillips Formfitter.

The first day we made approximately 10 miles. In that distance we had to re-settle the decker pack saddles several times. I was beginning to believe I had made a serious mistake in not ordering the double cinchas. By the end of the second day, in which we made over 16 miles, we had stopped and re-settled the Decker pack saddles a number of times. It seemed they would start to turn every several miles, regardless of how well balanced and tied the load was, or how tight the cinch was. We had no such problems with the crossbuck pack saddles, which were padded in the same way.

Saddle sore on the QH Daisy
Saddle sore on the QH Daisy

By the end of the second day, our large, heavy-built Quarter Horse mare had developed a saddle sore high on her withers. After looking at the location of the saddle sore and considering how often we had to re-settle her Decker pack saddle, we determined that we had over-padded the pack saddles, causing them to “woggle” on the horses’ backs. After that, we packed the Phillips Formfitter saddles without the additional saddle pads and had no further problems with the saddles turning or with saddle sores on any of the other horses. After that point, the Formfitter pack saddles stayed in place with the single cincha and performed very satisfactorily. Lesson learned: Do not over-pad with these pack saddles.

Incidentally, we continued to double-pad the crossbuck pack saddles on the mule and one Quarter Horse and had no trouble with the saddles turning or saddle sores.

I was very pleased with the quality and adjustability of the rigging on the Phillips Formfitter pack saddles. I was able to make the saddles fit properly on my 16-hand, tall-withered, short-backed, tall-spined, deep-chested, bony-hind quartered, Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, as well as the 15-hand, long-torso, flat-backed, broad-chested, wide-rumped, Quarter Horse. As for the mustang, he was fairly in-between the other two and we had no trouble at all with fitting the pack saddles to his conformation.

The one horse that had problems with the Phillips Form Fitter rigging was my 4 year-old Missouri Fox Trotter mare. This mare, Lizzy, has a walk to die for under saddle, but it is that same walk that makes her unsuitable as a pack horse. Her long-strided, swinging walking motion caused her to get rub sores from both the breast strap and the breeching, despite the fact that Wade makes those straps with the edges rolled with a light, soft leather. I found Lizzy also got rub sores from my riding saddle breast strap, so it wasn’t the pack saddle rigging at fault, but simply that my mare has such movement in her strides that she simply gets rub sores. Consequently, Lizzy spent more time than anticipated under my riding saddle with the breast strap stowed in the packs. My other Fox Trotter, Ranger, had no such problems and ended up under the pack saddle more than planned.

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On the Fox Trotters, we had to set the spider way up on the croop to avoid rub sores

The one piece of rigging on the Phillips Formfitter saddles that caused problems on both Fox Trotters, was the spider, which is the piece that holds the breeching in place on the croop of the horse. It should ride about half-way between the point of the croop and the horse’s tail. This piece had rubbed deep sores on both my Fox Trotters’ rumps before I noticed it. I had to adjust the spiders so that they rode right on top of the horses’ croop to alleviate the problem.  When adjusted as it is supposed to ride, the motion and conformation of the Fox Trotters caused the front edge of the spider to dig into the hair and subsequently the flesh of the horses. I think this problem could be remedied with a slight re-design of the spider. The spider is made with two layers of heavy leather with fairly sharp edges. I think a fleece pad under the spider, a different shape, or possibly rolled edges like the breast strap and breeching have, would fix the problem. I must say, however, that the only horses that experienced this problem were the Fox Trotters. The Quarter Horse and the mustang had no problem with the spider, or any other part of the rigging, as-is. I intend to design a removable fleece pad for my saddles, for use with my Fox Trotters.

The Packer's Field Manual, by Bob Hoverson
The Packer’s Field Manual, by Bob Hoverson

I used the book “Packer’s Field Manual,” by Bob Hoverson, as a guide for setting up and using my Decker pack saddles. I found his book to be quite complete and useful. I learned to tie up manties quickly and well, using the knots and hitches he shows in the book. I set up each pack saddle with two “sling ropes” of about 28 feet length attached to the front saddle arch with a loop. Each rope runs through the rear hoops and is looped around each pack in a way that suspends it solidly from the saddle arches. The packs are weighed and balanced using a pack scale before loading, however, if one pack ends up slightly larger or heavier, balance can be achieved by setting the heavy pack a little higher on the saddle, thus changing its center of balance and making the load to ride balanced.

2015-03-23 10.04.05Decker-style pack saddles differ from traditional crossbucks not only in the way they are made, but also in the way they are equipped. While our crossbucks were pretty bare and light on rigging, the Phillips Formfitters were heavy on rigging. They also, as do all Decker-style saddles, use a protective canvas and wood shield, known as a “halfbreed” or “Arapajo”, apparently named for one of the men who originally designed and used this type of pack saddle. The halfbreed is a canvas layer that fits over top of the Decker pack saddle and has sideboards of 1 X 4 pine that protect the horse’s sides from the packs and spread the load. This is particularly important when packing items such as lumber, fence posts, or gravel. By the time we finished the first leg of the trip (355 miles), both Fox Trotters and one Quarter Horse were starting to show the beginnings of saddle sores where the side boards rode against their sides from the heavy loads of the feed sacks. The mustang, on the other hand, showed not a single mark…anywhere.

The Phillips Formfitter pack saddle is made with a leather skirt covering the saddle bars, with wool fleece on the underside. This fleece is intended to increase the padding and keep the saddle in place better. In comparison, our crossbuck pack saddles are simply made of wood. For the most part we had no trouble with the Phillips Formfitter staying in place…at least once we learned not to over-pad them, however, on our mustang we had a problem with the saddle pad crawling out from under the pack saddle. We had to stop and reset his saddle at least twice during the trip to move the saddle pad forward. We did not experience this on any other horse.

One of our crossbucks on Honey
One of our crossbucks on Honey

IMG_1357Again, our crossbuck pack saddles were very sparse on rigging. Just a strap for the breast strap and a couple more for the breeching. They were simple to place, rig, load, and remove. They caused no saddle sores on any of the animals, and never threatened to turn and dump a load, despite our mule’s propensity to roll every time we stopped for a rest. We used the crossbucks on both of the two Quarter Horses and the mustang with similar results. Having said that, I must also add that the heaviest load we ever put on the crossbuck pack saddles was about 170 pounds and they often carried under 150, whereas our Phillips Formfitters were often loaded with up to 200 pounds of feed.

One problem we had with Dad’s old pack saddles was the fact that they are both in dire need of having all the leather replaced. Still, they made it through our trip with only one broken strap – a breast strap, which we repaired with a piece of nylon webbing we found along the trail.

Over the 28 days, Dad and I tried to streamline our morning camp-breaking ritual a number of ways, but we found that with four pack animals, and having to pack our camp and make up four manty packs and four paniers, we simply could not do it in less than about four hours. We discovered that packing the paniers was a simple matter of placing things in the bags in a fairly even manner, then weighing each panier with the pack scale and adjusting as necessary, normally a matter of removing an item from the heavy panier and placing it in the light one. Making up manties, on the other hand, was a matter of building two manties at one time, so that we could estimate that each would be fairly equal in size and weight, then wrapping each one and tying it up. Then, after they were completely done, weighing them to make sure the two packs were within one pound or so of each other. If they were significantly different in weight, they were unpacked, adjusted, and repacked. It was easy to balance them when a pack consisted of one or two bags of feed, but when they contained items of camp gear, after the feed was used, then it was a pain. Additionally, tying up the manties is very hard on the hands. The canvas and rope chafed and rubbed my hands to the degree that it became quite painful for about the first two weeks of the trip, until my hands toughened up.

The one thing we found handy about the manties was that we used the canvas tarps as a ground sheet and bed cover (we prefer sleeping out in the open and did not take a tent). By the end of the trip we had decided that for our kind of pack trips, mantying was simply an unnecessary chore. I can see how they would be the way to go for an outfitter with odd-sized items to pack, but for us, it just isn’t practical.

Utah-style paniers on a Phillips Formfitter pack saddle

For the last three days of the trip we decided that we would go with two pack animals and send one crossbuck pack saddle and one Phillips Formfitter home with our two mares. We also decided that mantying packs was a tedious task we could do without. We finished our trip using four paniers, two of which hung on either side of a Phillips Formfitter pack saddle.

In the final analysis, after 355 miles and 28 days on the trail, we learned that while Decker-style packing is very versatile, making up four manties every morning was terribly time-consuming, tedious, and very hard on the hands. Yes, Decker-style packing is versatile, but panier-style packing is much easier and takes less time and effort to pack, unpack, and load on the pack animal. Even with a cover and diamond hitch, the paniers were easier to pack than the manties. Hard paniers would be an even simpler option.

As for my Phillips Formfitter pack saddles, I am pleased with them and they performed well – once we learned the lesson about over-padding them. They are very well made, both with regard to materials and workmanship.  However, I cannot say they out-performed the old traditional crossbuck pack saddles. Though, had we loaded up the crossbucks with the weights with which we loaded the Formfitters at times, things might have been different.

I will continue to use the Phillips Formfitter pack saddles due to their adjustability and versatility, but I will use them with paniers unless it is absolutely necessary to use manties. They will go with us when we start again next spring.  While we had two horses that experienced saddle sores and rub sores, I cannot blame that on the pack saddles and do not believe they are at fault. These saddles allow me to choose between panier packing, with both soft and hard paniers, or to go with manties for odd-shaped loads.

For the type of horse packing Dad and I do, panier packing will remain our standard. Consequently, as far as utility is concerned, it is a wash between the Decker and Crossbuck pack saddles. While the Deckers are definitely more versatile in the ways they can be packed, we will be using them for handling paniers, which the crossbucks are specifically made for and do very well. Knowing what I know now, I would choose a standard crossbuck pack saddle over a standard Decker pack saddle for the kind of packing I do.

As far as the Phillips Formfitters are concerned, the quality of workmanship and materials, and the adjustability of the rigging and saddle bars are important to me and I remain pleased with them. I will use them pretty much as I would use a crossbuck pack saddle in the future, but will still have the added versatility when needed. In my opinion, the price tag of $699 for a fully outfitted Phillips Formfitter pack saddle is an excellent value when compared with prices for other brands and styles of pack saddles similarly outfitted. I expect mine will cover many miles on my pack animals before I hang up my spurs.

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Tack and Gear

Gear Report: Goal Zero Solar Chargers

Goal Zero Nomad 13 and Guide 10
Goal Zero Nomad 13 and Guide 10

Thought I’d take a few minutes this morning to type up a gear report on one of the pieces of gear we took that truly proved its worth and durability on our 355 mile horse pack trip through the rough country of southeastern Arizona:  Our Goal Zero solar chargers.

As you might recall from a previous post, I bought two solar chargers made by Goal Zero – a Guide 10 and a Nomad 13. The Nomad is the larger of the two panels, producing up to 13 watts of electricity, while the Guide 10 produces up to 10.

Goal Zero Guide 10
Goal Zero Guide 10

The reason I bought the Guide 10 to supplement the Nomad was that it comes with a rechargeable battery pack of four AA batteries that can be used as an emergency power source to recharge our other electronic devices when no sunshine is available.

Tough covers and clear plastic protecting the solar cells
Tough covers and clear plastic protecting the solar cells

When I first purchased the chargers I was quite concerned about their durability. They are flat-panel solar panels covered by a tough nylon-canvas material with a clear plastic cover over the solar cells. They both have a zippered pocket on the back, where cords and adapters may be stored. I am pleased to report that these panels have survived the first leg of our trip. 355 miles of the toughest terrain I have ever ridden over.

As I felt I needed to keep these panels accessible at all times, as well as the need to protect them from damage, I kept them in my saddle bags for the entire ride. My original intent was to strap them to the top of our pack saddles, so we could charge batteries and devices as we traveled. However, after our first day out, I let that idea die. We passed under so many low branches of mesquite, ironwood, juniper, ocotillo, and cactus, that I’m pretty sure they would have sustained damage had I tied them to our pack saddles.

My solar panels set out to charge my iphone
My solar panels set out to charge my iphone

What I ended up doing for most of the trip was to set the panels out each morning and evening to catch as much sunshine as possible. Often, we made camp after the sun was low on the horizon, so I didn’t get a lot of charging done in the evenings, but I generally got several hours of good charging time each morning as we broke camp. My solar panels were the last thing to be packed before mounting up.

About the second week, we had a spell when there just wasn’t enough sunshine to keep our batteries charged, partly due to our traveling through trees in the Chiricahuas. I ended up one day with all my GoPro camera batteries discharged, my iphone dead, and my DeLorme Explorer GPS almost dead. Out of necessity I tied the Nomad 13 to the back of my saddle as we traveled in open country from the Chiricahuas to San Simon, AZ. 20150429_114019The canvas cases for both units have small loops along outer borders which serve very well for tying them by saddle strings over my coat behind my saddle. While it did not charge very efficiently, due to not being able to always have it directly facing the sun, it was enough to get my iphone up to about a 30% charge after several hours. After that, whenever we traveled in open country I tied the Nomad to the back of my saddle and connected something to it, be it my iphone or the Guide 10 battery pack. In that way we were able to keep the most critical devices with at least a minimum charge the whole trip.

Another benefit of having both the Nomad and the Guide 10 was that the two can be connected together, or “daisy-chained”, by connecting the built-in cables, to increase their charging capacity. This greatly decreased the amount of time needed to completely recharge a device or top one off. When I set the panels out each morning or evening, they were daisy chained and I took pains to make sure the panels were situated to take maximum advantage of what sunshine was available. I found that even on cloudy days, there was sufficient sunshine to produce a trickle of electricity to get some charging done.

Guide 10 battery pack
Guide 10 battery pack

The item I always gave priority to keep at full charge was the battery pack. The battery pack contained four rechargeable AA batteries and had sufficient depth to bring my iphone 6 from dead to about 95% charge in a matter of about 3 hours. At that point the battery pack would be completely dead. I would make sure it was brought to full charge the following morning. My reasoning for this was that my iphone was the second most important electronic device in our inventory. It communicated with my DeLorme Explorer and provided viewable topographical maps by which we guided ourselves much of the time. Since we didn’t get all the paper maps we should have, we were very reliant on the iphone to keep us going the right direction, particularly at forks in the trails. It also served as a camera for still shots and the occasional short video when I didn’t have the GoPro out and ready. The battery pack gave us some insurance against days without sun and was used a number of times to keep the iphone alive until it could be charged by the solar panels.

Indicator light, USB output, two power inputs, LED flashlight function on the battery pack
Indicator light, USB output, two power inputs, LED flashlight function on the battery pack

One end of the battery pack has a well organized set of power inputs and outputs, as well as an indicator light and LED flashlight function. The USB power output allowed us to use the regular USB charging cords for charging all our devices. The inputs allow charging from the solar panels via a built-in cord or from a 110V wall outlet via a USB charger. When the battery pack is discharged, the indicator light shows solid red. As it charges it shows a blinking red light, which changes to a slow-blinking green, then a faster-blinking green, then finally a solid green when fully charged. The same indicators show as it discharges while charging a device. There is an on/off switch on the left side which also turns the LED flashlight on and off. While I never needed the LED flashlight, I can see where it might come in handy on occasion. The pack also comes with an adapter to recharge AAA batteries. The reserve power of the battery pack was a very important asset for us on the pack trip. In fact, I am considering purchasing a second battery pack.

The most important device we had was, of course, the DeLorme InReach Explorer, however the settings I had in place on it kept it going for up to five days before hitting the critical 20% charge level. Not only that, but it would come back to full charge within about two hours, when connected to both panels in direct sunlight. So, one good morning would have the GPS set to go for nearly a week.

I made sure all our devices were turned off each night and not turned back on until needed the following day. By doing so, and by ensuring that I set the two chargers out each morning, along with the additional charging time on the back of my saddle, the two solar chargers kept all our devices with at least a minimum charge the entire trip, except that one day when I let things get discharged. That one day taught me to become more diligent and organized in keeping things charged and utilizing the sun when it was shining. Additionally, as we took a rest day every Sunday, the solar panels were set out all day and adjusted periodically to maximize their effectiveness in the sunshine, while charging all our devices to maximum capacity (that is, when the sun was actually shining).

As for durability, while stored in my saddlebags, along with a number of other items – flashlights, binoculars, odds and ends, etc – these two solar charges survived multiple instances of my saddle horse laying down and attempting to roll over. I can’t think of many more effective ways to prove the durability of these little panels. After the trial they have been through, I am satisfied that I will have them for many, many more miles into the future.

wear spots on the plastic solar cell protectors
wear spots on the plastic solar cell protectors

The only thing I have found that would improve the durability and effectiveness of the Goal Zero solar chargers, in my opinion, would be to have a piece of flanel cloth, or similar material, cut to the size of the panels to keep between the clear plastic panels when the units are closed. I found that the clear plastic face of my units became scratched and had a somewhat fogged appearance in places, from the dust that got between them and scratched the surfaces while closed. I’m sure that decreases their efficiency, although I don’t know how much. This little improvement is something I will do for future use. I intend to recommend this as an improvement to the manufacturer.

My overall evaluation of the Nomad 13 and the Guide 10, used both individually and together, and I think I can honestly say they received a baptism by fire, so to speak, is that I consider them to be one of the most critical items of gear we had on the trip. That is not to say they were necessary for our survival, but they were absolutely necessary for the successful outcome of our trip. They proved themselves to be very durable under the most harsh conditions, surviving some pretty rough treatment and kept our critical electronic devices with at least a minimal charge throughout our month-long trip, thus ensuring we had the ability to contact the outside world at any time and that we were able to photographically document much of our trek for our followers.

Overall grade:  A+

 

Website Management

Start Your Blog Here at Western Trail Rider!

I was recently contemplating all the work and effort I have put into creating this website and starting my Great Western Trail Ride blog. There was a while there when I was pulling all-nighters just trying to get one or two problems on the website working properly. Then I crashed the website while trying to migrate it to another web host. I lost everything and had to start completely over. Luckily, I was able to restore all my blog posts from caches on another site. Still, it was a lot of work. Just creating a single well-written blog post is a lot of work!

I started wondering whether it was all worth the effort, and trying to define exactly what my goals were for starting the website and blog. The bottom line, I decided, was that I hoped that eventually the information I posted would be helpful to others, or at least entertaining, and maybe feed their dreams the way others have fed mine. For that to happen, I needed to be able to reach people, or it would all be wasted effort.

Which is why I am writing this post. The title makes it sound like blatant promotion of the website, but read on. If you are interested in sharing information relating to horse packing, camping, and trail riding, or related topics, or if you currently maintain such a blog (short for web log), but are not getting the readership or following you would like (sort of like talking to yourself), then this may interest you. Read on.

For a blog or website to have any value, other than being a simple release of energy and creative juices, somebody has to read it. Then, for you to get any gratification, they have to be able to respond to your posts, comment on them, and share them with their friends. For that to happen at all, people have to be able to find your blog. This is done by means of search engines, such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Pinterest, and others.

Search engines operate by means of tiny computer programs known as “bots” and “spiders”, that wander through the Internet attaching themselves to anything that moves, and reporting back to the search engine. For instance, the Western Trail Rider forum currently has fifty such bots registered on the forum. These bots feed on the information posted in the forums and report back to their respective search engine any particular key words they find that might be attractive to people using that search engine.

Have you ever wondered how the computer knows just what advertisements to put on your home page, or how facebook knows to send you “suggested pages”? Same thing. The bots take a look at the things you search for and look at, and report back to their search engine. Invasion of privacy? Yup. So what? We have all checked that little box that says they can do it if we want to use their services…and we do.

So, in horses bots and spiders are bad. On your blog, they are good…most of them. They get you noticed by the search engines. Notice by search engines gets you subscribers and followers. A long-running blog that has a large following can turn out to be a money-maker, through Internet advertising, although for most of us that’s not the real goal. Most of us just want to share our experiences with others, and the more followers we have, the happier we are.

In order to maximize a blog or website’s ability to get noticed by the major search engines, there are free and paid sources of software out there geared to maximize your “SEO” (search engine optimization). They help create “slugs” and search-friendly key words, categories, and tags, that help get your blog or website noticed. WordPress, which is the software behind Western Trail Rider, has excellent SEO software built-in.

Now comes the kicker. If you have a desire to create a blog to document your trail rides or pack trips, or share your experience as an outfitter in Wyoming (for instance), wouldn’t it be to your advantage to start your blog under a website that already houses similar blogs, already has a following, and already ranks well with the major search engines? Can you see the application of the old saw, “Strength in numbers”, here? Brings to mind the flash floods we used to see in Arizona. One minute the wash is dry, then next it is flowing full, all because a lot of rain drops fell to the ground, then joined together to run into the same flow, creating volume by their numbers.

I have looked at numerous blogs on websites of suppliers, outfitters, and just simple bloggers, who have posted half-a-dozen short posts and given up, because they had no following, and it became a non-productive expenditure of time and energy.

Our vision, here at Western Trail Rider, is to create a website where people like yourself can share their western trail riding adventures and practical experience, discuss related matters in a healthy and active forum, and actually get their information into the hands of people who are looking for it. As we get more bloggers and forum members under the WTR banner, the better will be our search engine ranking, and greater will be the exposure for all.

So your options are essentially this: Do it yourself…the hard way…or come join us and we’ll all do it together.

If this interests you, hit me with an email at tony.henrie@westerntrailrider.com. It will take me a matter of minutes to get you started. It’s easy. You don’t have to be a computer whiz. We’ll get you started, we’ll take care of you.

In the meantime, check out our current blogs: Trail Rides with Jon (by Jon Tanner) and Tony’s Great Western Trail Ride (by Tony Henrie). Join the forum. Create a photo album of your favorite trail.

Just click on the menu item at the top of this page.

 

Horse Health, Western Horsemanship

Chronic Cribbing in horses

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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
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:

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?ns=1&video_id=BTV6OalpscY

 

Great Western Trail, Tack and Gear, Western Trails

What has been decided so far…

Here’s where things stand up to now with regard to my long ride in 2015.

The plan is for my buddy, Dale, and me to make the ride from March to about mid July, or whenever we get to Canada, 2015.  I had figured the mileage would be between 2,000 and 2,500 miles.  The mileage by road is about 1500 miles, as I recall, according to Google Maps. The Great Western Trail website, greatwesterntrail.org, says the trail includes 4455 miles of trails, however that includes the mileage for all the trails in the GWT trail system, not just one direct route.  Some sites indicate the mileage to be approximately 3,000 miles, but I have not yet found any indication of how they came to that number.  As far as I can tell, nobody has ridden the entire trail from Mexico to Canada in one shot.  I have found mention of several individuals who have ridden from either Canada to Mexico or Mexico to Canada, but through California, Oregon, Washington State, on the Pacific Rim Trail and not on the GWT.

The website for The Arizona Trail, which is the Arizona portion of the GWT, has a much better website. It has precisely detailed maps of the entire trail, including GPS data points, and information regarding trail conditions, regulations, etc.. They show the Arizona Trail to be 800 miles from Mexico to Utah. As a grand finale, of sorts, it passes through the Grand Canyon and ends near Jacob’s Lake at the Utah border.

There is a group of four young men, including Ben Masters,  who are currently gathering funds to make the trip in 2013.  You can find them under the name “Unbranded” on Kickstarter here. They are doing the ride to benefit the preservation of the American Mustang, a worthy cause, and to promote wilderness preservation.  They will actually be riding and packing mustangs purchased at auction from the Bureau of Land Management and trained by themselves.  They are currently seeking contributions for funding and are hoping to make a documentary film of it.  Look them up and lend a hand. I am looking forward to monitoring their progress to help with the planning of my own trip.  I have made contact with Ben via email.  He was very cordial and free with his help and advice. I plan to keep in contact with him and pick his brain and learn from his experience as much as possible.

I am currently in the early stages of gathering equipment for the trip. I am going to need a lot of new equipment, since my stuff has worn out over the past 40 years or so, less from use than from storage, while I moved around the country with my career.  I am going to need a new saddle, at least two pack saddles, all associated tack, new camp gear, and even new horses.

Right now I have a 7-8 year-old Quarter Horse mare I’m working with to see whether she has the makings of an excellent trail horse.  So far she’s doing fine.  I bought her about 18 months ago as a green-broke and have been slowly bringing her up.  Since I retired in March, I have been able to work with her regularly and have been able to get her training pretty much up to speed.

Problem is that there isn’t anywhere to ride out here in Virginia that even closely approximates thePenny trails I’ll be riding on the GWT.  I plan to get her out into the Shenandoah National Park several times this year to put some miles on her.  I’ve read there are over 180 miles of trails there, however, overnight camping with horses, it says in the regulations, “is allowed, but discouraged.”  Now what does that mean?  Do you set up camp and the park rangers come by to give you a hard time?  One rule says that if you can see your horse’s hoof prints on the trail, then you can’t ride on that trail and you must stay on the improved gravel trails.  What?!

So you see.  While there are places to ride out here in Virginia, it’s truly a different experience than out on the western trails.

I will need to purchase at least two pack animals in the coming year and get them trained up and ready.  I’ll need to get them out on some long, multi-day trails to get the kinks worked out of them.  I will also need to train them as saddle horses. No sense in having horses you can’t ride.

I plan to build my own saddle and pack saddles. This is something I have wanted to learn to do for many years. I particularly love antique saddles.  I love to see a brass horn and a tall shovel cantle. While I was visiting my parents in Arizona during November, my dad gave me an old saddle he has had in his workshop for many years. He can’t even recall where he got it. He called it his “cactus saddle”. It didn’t look like much. The only leather left on it was the pommel cover. The rawhide on the tree had been cut away in places, as repairs were made to the tree. I stripped off the leather and rawhide and took the tree completely apart and found the cantle and fork broken and the bars badly damaged. The brass horn is a little bent, but not bad. I found the remnants of rawhide braid around the base of the horn, evidence that the brass horn was hidden under braided rawhide. I was surprised to find hidden under the rawhide on the top of the seat-side of the cantle, a label that said “Visalia”.  I expect this saddle was once a Walker Visalia saddle, which would have been very collectable.

I have since repaired the cantle and fork and am in the process of repairing the bars. Since old saddles don’t fit modern horses very well (we like our horses big and fat, while horses back in “the day” were generally trim and fit), so I recut the angles on the fork to give the bars a more modern angle, of about 90 degrees.  I also re-cut the cantle angles to make it fit the new bar angle.  It now has what might be considered “semi-Quarter Horse” bars.

I temporarily assembled the tree with the new bar angle and tested the fit on my mare, who has low withers and a broad, flat back.  It still fit a little narrow for her.  I have the use of a 22 year-old Quarter Horse, who looks more like about 16, so I tried it on him.  The tree with the new bar angles fits him like a custom-made saddle.

So, now the plan is to duplicate the saddle tree and cut the bar angle on the duplicate to fit my mare, then build both saddles. I will have a saddle to fit my mare with full-Quarter Horse bars, or thereabouts, and another saddle to fit horses with taller withers and narrower, sloped backs. The saddle I build for my mare will be the saddle I ride on my trip.

Incidentally, I am also rebuilding a pony saddle in the same way.  The original belonged to my brother-in-law, but was in less than restorable condition.  I have disassembled it and am in the process of duplicating the tree.  I will build the pony saddles before I start my saddle. I hope it gives me the necessary experience to do a decent job on a good work saddle for myself.  It certainly won’t be a show saddle, but functionality and a look that won’t embarrass me are what I’m aiming for.

Sometime in the next month I will order leather and start the saddle projects. I will also make myself a set or two of good leather saddle bags.  I actually prefer canvas saddle bags, but I haven’t been able to find a good pair recently.  Everybody seems to have gone to nylon and cordura. I’ll try a leather set and see how I like them.

My dad has a couple of pack saddles he would let me use for my trip, but I think I’ll go ahead and build a set for myself. I have always used the crossbuck style packsaddles, so I expect that’s what I’ll stick with. I have no opinion as to whether the crossbuck style or the Decker style is better, I just like the crossbuck style. It’s just what I grew up with, I guess. I’ll use Dad’s pack saddles for patterns for both the trees and rigging.

I still have just over two years to get all this done, but I expect to get the saddle gear done this year, so I can start using it and getting all the kinks worked out of the horses.  If any of the horses were to prove too much of a knothead for the trip (remember, I’ll be going through the Grand Canyon and they’ll have to go through a tunnel and cross that long suspension bridge at the bottom!), I’ll have to have time to sell it and get another and get it worked out before the trip.

Lots to do.  I get excited just thinking about it.

Ben Masters and friends, good luck to you in your endeavor.  I just sent you a small donation.  I’ll keep up on your progress.

Website Management

OK. The site is back up…

But it looks like I’m going to have to rebuild from the ground up. I have fixed some bugs that I introduced into the previous site, and hopefully I have learned enough to be more careful in the future.

New: I have integrated the WTR site with the Forum and Gallery, so that when you register on the WTR site, you are automatically registered for the other two. If you encounter problems, let me know and I’ll see if I can screw it up…er…I mean, fix it.

I changed the “Comments”, and “Share” buttons. It is not quite as busy as what I had, so let me know whether you like this or prefer the traditional facebook boxes. I am not yet sure whether facebook comments will be integrated with it yet. We’ll see.

Those who previously “followed” or subscribed to the site or posts may need to do that again.

I am working on restoring my previous posts. I may end up having to rebuild those as well. I will also reload my photo albums to the Gallery. I should have everything back up to speed by the end of the week.

Thanks for your patience.

Thanks for you patience.