Horse wrecks and adventures

[Pony Soldier]

Horses for the most part, are very pleasant to work with but every once in a while things just happen. I have one mare that has to ride on the right side of the two horse trailer. If she gets loaded on the left side she slides down the wall to the bottom of the trailer. Makes for an ugly morning. Wierd enough - her mother was the same.

Horses often have a pecking order In a pack string. If you don't pay attention to their preferences things may turn into a disaster.

I bought a new horse one year and since he was extremely gentle, I loaded him up and started packing my camp in. Turns out the mare I tied him to took a disliking to him. In the steepest section of the trail, he pulled back and two of them went over the edge - end over end. That took a while to unravel. He went in the front after that and everything was smoother.

I rode down a trail in September while scouting for elk. In our country, the yellow jackets go undergound after the first freeze. My mare stepped in a nest and out a few million of them boiled out. I swear she stood on one leg and swatted with the other three before she made a run for it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with stories. Please share.

 

[rayporter]

we needed another quiet horse for packing and riding, but mostly as a packer.

at an auction in lima ohio i bought a mare that came from findlay college that was used for the beginning horse program.
she made a couple trips to the mountains and was in general a good animal. every summer i spent several weeks riding the old strip mines in ohio getting them legged up for hunting.

one day we went to unload this mare and a couple mules and there was a huge racket when i opened the door on the trailer. and off she came and stood and looked at us like nothing was wrong. the thing was that she had been on the front and had sprung the partitions coming off behind the mules.

it seemed that for 2 years she had been loaded last by chance and we never knew she had a trailer problem. went back to loading her on the back and all was good.

 

[Robster]

Great thread topic. I'm trying to remember any wrecks I've had that are worthy of sharing, Hopefully we'll have som more people chime in!!

Seems like this is the case most of the time.

 

[HaydenB]

I’ve got a couple, here’s one.

Two of us were about 23 miles back in the wilderness. We were hauling elk camp in for a week long hunt, the rest of the guys were riding in behind us. We were both riding two horses and pulling two mules. For the most part everything had been fine all day when we were lined out on the trails. We got to a really big meadow and the front mule i was pulling started to out pace me and my horse. I took the lead rope and pulled her back/popped her with it and she slowed down. We went a little further and she did it again except this time she was at a trot. That would of been no big deal except that particular mule had a set of hard panniers on that had all our kitchen stuff. If you ever loaded a set of hard panniers you know how loud they are and this made a lot of racket going by me and my horse which caused him to spook. So I had a little conundrum on my hands. I hurried dallied the lead rope to my horn to try and slow everything down and get it under control when off of a sudden the buckle on the lead rope that was connected to the mule broke when everything came tight. I tried to ride my horse over to the mules but he didn’t want any part of that mess and started to pitch a little. So now I have a mule running free dragging another mule all around this meadow, one end to the other.When I say running I mean running and making more racket than you can imagine. She ran by the other string of horses and they did everything but scatter. Finally after a couple of minutes the back mule that was being drug around was tired and started to set back a little and I was able to bail off my horse and get her caught. It was quite the crap show for a minute but we re centered all the panniers, cinched em up and rode on into camp.

I think anybody who has taken horses into the woods has a few stories.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I have found over time that certain horses have a problem with wind. On a calm day, they are calm and relaxed but on a windy day you can see the change in personality. They get edgy, wired and a blowup is forth coming.

I had picked up a new gelding that seemed pretty good but we were loading soft panniers that were on him, you could see and feel the change in him. We were going into camp for a week so the panniers were filled with food and supplies that we were filling from grocery sacks. As he got more and more irritated as did I. Suddenly before I could tighted the straps and put on the lash cinch, he broke free and took off bucking and kicking up the road toward camp. With each jump cans, cheese and you name it rained out. He ran for about a mile and waited for me.

We walked back to the truck reloading as we went with cussing at every step. The rest of the trip was without problems.

I learned to load the panniers first and then load them on him. Especially on a windy day. I put him down at 29 and he got better over time but was always one to watch. You just couldn't relax on a windy day.

 

[rayporter]

he he he
2 yr olds and wind can keep you alert.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Horses are why ATV's were invented.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

Horses are why ATV's were invented.

They each have their place but I can get my horse places your atv wouldn't dream of going, and haul a elk out. If you don't like horses don't look at this section of the forum dipshit...

 

[FLATHEAD]

They each have their place but I can get my horse places your atv wouldn't dream of going, and haul a elk out. If you don't like horses don't look at this section of the forum dipshit...

Dang , who pissed in your Cheerios?
Is everyone who disagrees with you a dipshit?
Maybe you've been kicked in the head a few times?
Carry on Jr.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Ground conditions can change making a safe ride a life threatening event. Early in the season towards Lookout pass, the first week was a nasty drippy , rainy week. I went over the second week and a cold front had followed the rain and the morning was cold and crisp. I started out on a Forest Service trail with the standard clip clop that accompanys a pleasant ride. I was in the trees with no snow. I made the switchback and started up the steep hillside. Near the point of the ridge we stepped out of the trees and within two steps the hoof sounds changed to as if we had stepped out on a concrete sidewalk. The ground was frozen. Suddenly the feet went out from under my gelding and we hit the ground. I stayed on him because as steep as it was I figured if I bailed he would go over the edge. He tried to get up and fell again but this time on top of me. I had visions of dying there with the horse. He rolled over me crushing my ribs and slid down the hill like a toboggan.

I struggled to breath and finally got things to work. With each breath my ribs slid back and forth in their sockets. I could feel the movement but suprisingly pain was limited.

Wearing corks I was able to stand on the frozen cliff and started down to my horse. He had slid a couple hundred feet and was wedged under a bunch of deadfall. I pulled the bloodclots out of his nose and pulled a saw off my saddle and cut the logs off of him. I grabbed a hind leg and flipped him over so his head was uphill. I got him on his feet and looked him over for further damage. There were minor cuts but they had stopped bleeding. I checked my tack and gathered up the spare parts that had been torn off. I checked my rifle, a new Browning High Grade BAR. The rifle had a 45 degree bend in the barrel and the stock and forearm poured out of the scabbard like kibbles and bits.

I started down the hill to the truck. In the trees we had footing but as I approached the road, the shock started to wear off and the pain was undescribable. As I hit the road a truck came towards my rig and I waved him down. Thank God he was another horse jocky and he helped me unsaddle my horse and get him loaded.

I drove back to my house and left my gun with the gunsmith next door. Then I started for home. The bumps on the road were memorable but the rough pavement through Missoula hurt so bad that I had to stop in East Missoula to let the pain subside.

I had to fill up with diesel in Deer Lodge. It took 20 minutes to build up my courage to get out of the truck. A more painful event I have never experienced. When I got home I struggled to find a place to sit that didn't hurt.

When my wife got home she remarked that the truck was parked in the middle of the barnyard. Then she said my gelding was kind of bloody. After a while she asked if I was going to the hospital. I said they don't do much for ribs. She remarked that they would have better drugs and I said I would get my coat.

I have been very aware of conditions beyond me and my horse since then. Certain conditions cause me to get off and work my way around the problem areas.

It took some time for my ribs to heal and a catscan shows my sterum is folded over. Things happen - be careful and pay attention to changing conditions.

 

[Robster]

WOW!!! Glad your OK

 

[Robster]

I was riding a borrowed horse. Knew nothing about it. A dog shows up out of nowhere and the owner of the horse said "SHIT!" That was the last thing I remember. When I woke up, I was under a tree, flat on my back. Long story short, broken collar bone, broken ribs, even my diaphragm muscle was bruised. Thank God for better living through chemistry. Pain meds did the trick over the next couple of weeks

 

[Pony Soldier]

If you folks get tired of horse stories just tell me to quit but until then here is another.

Hunting with a horse develops a bond between a horse and his rider. They develop trust that you will take care of them and there is nothing to worry about.

In the 80s I put l in a dry camp on a ridge top. I only had one horse and it was easy enough to take him down the trail to the spring twice a day. It was only 400-500 yards and was a pleasant ride. I had dug it down with a pick and lined it with a box frame to keep it from filling in. It maintained about a foot of water and was easy to dip into it for camp water as it was needed.

The area was logged in the later years and the elk and their patterns changed. In response we moved camp about 8 miles northwest and started over. This time a wet camp.
Hunting was good for about 4 years and then a dry year so the search was on again.

I pulled out of camp and started to search my old country. I worked my way up the trail to the spring. The horse wanted water so I pulled over and let him drink. About the third slurp I noticed movement up the hill and got off the horse. At that level I could see that the movement was a 5x6 bull elk walking down to see the horse. I pulled the gun out of the boot, pushed the horse out of the spring and stepped in for a better shot. As I pulled the trigger the horse was looking over my shoulder at what I was doing. At the shot, he never moved.

We worked our way up the hill to gut the bull out and he patienly waited for me to finish and then we rode to the truck to pick up my mare to come back and load the meat.

Over time your horse becomes a trusting partner and a participant in the hunt. I got him at 8 and had to shoot him at 28. He just ran out of teeth. Over 20 years he participated in helping me kill more than 20 elk and packed probably twice that many with the family.

Having a trusted partner in the hunt has made the years most enjoyable. I just never got him to carry on a conversation.

 

[wyosteve]

About 15 yrs. ago, we had packed in about 22 miles for elk camp. On the day we finished our hunt and were packing out, , about 1 mile down the trail we ran into 2 gentlemen wondering if we might have seen some loose horses. Their whole string got loose. We hadn't at that point. About 15 miles down the trail were a couple horses tied to trees in a makeshift fashion. It was their horses which had apparently headed back to the trailhead when someone ran into them and tied them. Was a long walk for the guys looking for their string. We always picketed/hobbled at least one in case the rest got loose.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Everyone starts as a pilgrim. The question is whether they learn over time.

 

[Blueticker1]

Alright I have one I guess, probably the worst pack wreck I've been in, without anyone or anything getting hurt. When I was 15 my dad and I were packing in an archery deer camp, the plan was pack in 2 days before set up camp and then I would go back down the next day and pick up my uncle. Well we had a couple 3 year olds that we decided to pack and I was riding a 4 year old, my dad was on an 8 year old mare, he always hated mares but for some reason loved that one. We were about mid way up the steepest part of the switch backs, he was leading the string and I was in the rear. All of a sudden his mare just collapsed right in the middle of the trailer, one side is pretty much straight up and the other a few hundred feet straight down. I tied my horse went up and he had a leg pinned, so I popped the cinches, breast collar and britchen and wiggled her enough that he could get out. We tried getting her up and she wouldn't try. So he finally decided that he should probably shoot her, I went back to hold the other horses while he did. Well she must not have wanted to get shot so she got up like nothing was wrong or nothing happened, so he saddled her led her for a bit and then rode her into camp. The next day he was gonna give her a break so I took the 2 three year olds and my horse down to get my uncle one with a pack saddle empty and the other with no saddle. Just as I was about to come out of the bottom of the switch back the horse with the pack saddle blew up and ripped the rope out from under my leg, and bailed off the side of the switch backs taking the other horse with it, why the breakaway never broke I'll never know. It wasn't as steep and they made it down just fine but never stopped running. Finally somewhere in the bottom it broke so at least they were separate. Anyway I rode down looking for tracks to find them and they had both ran to the truck, by the time I got there my uncle had them caught loaded and saddled no other issues the whole trip. Stayed up there a week and filled our tags. About a month after that trip on that same trail a good friend had a young mountain lion jump in the middle of the trail in the dark about at the bottom of where the one horse blew up. Who knows, stuff happens but it sure beats riding the couch.
Also that mare lived another 18 years and we never had an issue with her.

 

[Robster]

I had a palomino quarter horse(X-wife's horse). I've never been partial to palomino's. Anyway, this horse would be walking up the steep slope up the trail, stop, then start walking backwards faster and faster. As in lost control almost a run backwards. I couldn't get him to stop and did it more than once. Sold it to a fur mommy that goes in circles in an arena. I just can't figure out why. It wasn't strength, horse was legged up enought to handle the hills.

 

[Pony Soldier]

When I was young I encountered an old packer on the trail into our hunting area. As horse people do, we stopped to take a breather and talk about horse things. We were near a stretch of the trail that was nearly too steep to stand on except the trail. A place where your pack sometimes rubbed on the rock wall. The creek was about 50 ft below the trail.

He told me that he was running a string into camp around midnight. Normally this was pleasant trip but that night as he came out of the tight zone, a herd of elk came off the hill and ran through the pack string and put everything in the creek. As he described sorting the elk out of his horses in the dark followed by having to repack them and then finally taking the horses up the creek until the bank was flat enough to get them out onto dry land.

I always used that story as my index of what tough was. Compared to that old man I was a certified woosy. I'm not sure if I measure up to him now but I sure as hell try.

 

[TxxAgg]

I've never been on a horse and plan to keep it that way. Love these stories, though!

 

[Pony Soldier]

Until the mulies died off I used to love to ride through the limestone hills covered with mountain mahogony. One time I came up out of a gulch and figured I would check the tops of the cliffs where I used to see hundreds of mulies bedded. As I approached a wall of brush my mare stopped and wouldn't go farther.

I pulled back and worked my way up the hill and tried it again. Once again she pulled up and refused to go farther. Being smart enough to pay attention to my pony, I tried a third time and worked my way up the hill. At that try she charged ahead and we picked a trail out to my observation point .

As usual there wasn't a deer left alive. After scanning all the usual holes, I saddled up and started back. Retracing my steps In the snow, I cut the spot where my horse stopped the first time there were fresh mtn lion tracks in my tracks. Many years ago I learned to pay attention to my equine partner. They are as good as your best bird dog and will save your life if you let them.