03/24/06 Packhorses

Packhorses You know, packhorses have it pretty easy really. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll tell you what I mean in one minute. When you think of the word, packhorse, it usually conjures up the image of a beast of burden and the downtrodden in the society of horses. But since the days of the freight pack trains of the young west are over, most packhorses have a pretty good job. There are professional packhorses and mules that are bred and trained by professional packers that use them to haul tents and supplies to hunting and fishing camps set up for people they guide into the mountains. Then there are part-time packhorses that only have to pack when their owners go hunting or camping. If you think about it even professional packhorses carry empty packs almost 50% of the time and the part-time packhorses haul into a camp and then get to rest until it's time to pack out. On the ranch, most of our saddle horses have taken their turn being the packhorse. I pack a lot of the young horses to get them used to the different feel of the pack rigging and how to handle a load that just sets there. Those packs scraping through the sagebrush really helps most young horses get over a lot of skittishness and foolishness. You know, I can almost see the smug look on the saddle horse's face in the morning as the packhorse is getting loaded with protein blocks or salt for the cowsbut then coming home I swear that packhorse is giggling about the 20 pound packsaddle and rigging he's carrying while the saddle horse is still hauling that guy that overeats at almost every meal. I'm Jeff Keane.