Horse wrecks

[khart_6882]

Sounds like his barrel racing days might be numbered

It’s funny you say that. He lawn darted my wife today at a barrel race, first time he’s gotten anyone to hit the dirt in his 12 years of life.

 

[Sandhills]

Not really a wreck but it had potential to be a good rodeo.

Grandpa, me and a family friend were trail riding. I hadn't been on a horse much. Trip up the mountain was fine, trip down not so fine. We were headed down switch backs and could see some hikers on the trail below us with silver umbrella hats on. Grandpa said that could be a rodeo in the making.

We met those hikers in a chokecherry patch. Grandpa was in the lead on a morgan, I was in the middle on a green broke shitter, and the guy who owned the horses was in the back on a Arab. He was gonna lead the Arab through, and it wheels. The mustang I was on took off and passed the Arab and I held on to the horn screaming. The horse never bucked or left the trail but it was pretty traumatic for a kid who had never been around many horses.

Still hate shitters to this day

 

[BluMtn]

One more, In the early 70's there had been a private plane go down in our local mountains. My father was part of SAR at that time and the sheriff ask due to the location of the plane if my dad could bring in a horse to pack the deceased pilot out. We had one older horse that we used to pack game with all the time. I was in high school at the time and ask my father if he wanted me to help and he told me that they had enough people that they didn't need me.

I get home that afternoon and my father was not home yet so I though things must not have gone well. He showed up after dark and when he came in the house he looked rough. I ask what happened. He said he rode the ol horse in to the plane wreck and they extracted the pilot and bagged him and draped him over the saddle and were in the process of tying him onto the saddle. They were about halfway done when that ol horse went bat **** crazy and started bucking and broke the reins and took off running with the pilot still somewhat attached.

Father said it took them a little while to find the horse which by now was minus the pilot. Said it took them a little while longer to find the pilot. They had to pack the pilot out from where they found him on foot back to the plane and then still on foot out to where the vehicles were parked.

There was something about the smell or something that ol horse did not like. The black bag would not have bothered him because I would use black garbage bags sometimes to haul loose stuff in and those never bothered him.

 

[Solowhunter]

One more, In the early 70's there had been a private plane go down in our local mountains. My father was part of SAR at that time and the sheriff ask due to the location of the plane if my dad could bring in a horse to pack the deceased pilot out. We had one older horse that we used to pack game with all the time. I was in high school at the time and ask my father if he wanted me to help and he told me that they had enough people that they didn't need me.

I get home that afternoon and my father was not home yet so I though things must not have gone well. He showed up after dark and when he came in the house he looked rough. I ask what happened. He said he rode the ol horse in to the plane wreck and they extracted the pilot and bagged him and draped him over the saddle and were in the process of tying him onto the saddle. They were about halfway done when that ol horse went bat **** crazy and started bucking and broke the reins and took off running with the pilot still somewhat attached.

Father said it took them a little while to find the horse which by now was minus the pilot. Said it took them a little while longer to find the pilot. They had to pack the pilot out from where they found him on foot back to the plane and then still on foot out to where the vehicles were parked.

There was something about the smell or something that ol horse did not like. The black bag would not have bothered him because I would use black garbage bags sometimes to haul loose stuff in and those never bothered him.

Should've practiced more packing corpses in body bags! Great story.

 

[RockAndSage]

One more, In the early 70's there had been a private plane go down in our local mountains. My father was part of SAR at that time and the sheriff ask due to the location of the plane if my dad could bring in a horse to pack the deceased pilot out. We had one older horse that we used to pack game with all the time. I was in high school at the time and ask my father if he wanted me to help and he told me that they had enough people that they didn't need me.

I get home that afternoon and my father was not home yet so I though things must not have gone well. He showed up after dark and when he came in the house he looked rough. I ask what happened. He said he rode the ol horse in to the plane wreck and they extracted the pilot and bagged him and draped him over the saddle and were in the process of tying him onto the saddle. They were about halfway done when that ol horse went bat **** crazy and started bucking and broke the reins and took off running with the pilot still somewhat attached.

Father said it took them a little while to find the horse which by now was minus the pilot. Said it took them a little while longer to find the pilot. They had to pack the pilot out from where they found him on foot back to the plane and then still on foot out to where the vehicles were parked.

There was something about the smell or something that ol horse did not like. The black bag would not have bothered him because I would use black garbage bags sometimes to haul loose stuff in and those never bothered him.

I've wondered about this kind of thing, including how outfitters' horses might react to the smell of blood, and if they need to sensitize them at all.

Apparently, prey animals start getting a threat-response triggered in their brains when they smell blood or death smells. Researchers have tracked this with brain scans and in blood samples, with biochemical markers to those responses. Predators start getting an aggression and dominance response. Interestingly, humans experience varying degrees of both.

You guys with lots of packing experience with game - do your horses start getting skittish at all around game you or clients have taken? Smelling blood or meat in game bags, etc? If so, do you do anything other than basic desensitization work with them?

 

[BluMtn]

In the years we were using horses, some would not be bothered and others would have nothing to do with anything dead. Once those that accepted a dead animal on their back would act the same as if you had a rider on there. The only exception was the pilot. Those are my observation with the animals I worked with, someone else may have a different take.

 

[whoop]

When i was twelve or thirteen, my younger brother and i decided to saddle a couple horses and ride to my uncles house. i saddled up my dads horse Giggs, which looking back, this decision was the start of the wreck.
Giggs had thrown everyone who had ever been on him, except dad. my older brother tried him once and landed in the wood pile, never leaving the yard. the neighbor tried him once and he was planted in a big greasewood, maybe 150 yards from the house. my mom was thrown, but i don't remember exactly where he put her, a chicken coupe comes to mind.
So off we go, it is about three miles to the destination. about a mile or so in i lose focus. i start picking russian olives and throwing them at my brother. i had leaned over to grab more amo when Giggs decides to break in half. he sends me flying right into a head gate in the irrigation canal. i hit the rip/rap head first, like a yard dart. i remember catching and leading him about 50 yds or so before blacking out.
next thing i remember coming too in the bathtub, with no one around. i had landed right on my forehead and could barely see out of one eye, the other had swole shut.
i have never since been able to totally relax on a horse, i always have them doing something instead of mindlessly headed in a direction.
these days i try to stick with mules.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I find they get a little touchy with fresh blood. I grab a handfull of blood and rub it on their nose. Then I load my meat with confidence. They can sense if you are nervous with the project. Once loaded I start down the trail. They typically settle down quickly. Make sure your quarters are firmly attached and can't flop.

 

[Pony Soldier]

In response to wasps. The paper wasps are typically in trees during the summer but many move into holes in the grouund in September or maybe the first cold snap.

I have seen paper nests that are 3 ft high and 18-20" wide. Some encapsulate young fir trees.

Once it freezes you don't see much of them. The ones that are really scary are the black and white 'bald faced' hornets. They are about twice the size and can swell both your eyes shut with a facial sting.

All of them tend to peak every 5 or so years. Just a sidenote.

 

[RockAndSage]

In response to wasps. The paper wasps are typically in trees during the summer but many move into holes in the grouund in September or maybe the first cold snap.

I have seen paper nests that are 3 ft high and 18-20" wide. Some encapsulate young fir trees.

Once it freezes you don't see much of them. The ones that are really scary are the black and white 'bald faced' hornets. They are about twice the size and can swell both your eyes shut with a facial sting.

All of them tend to peak every 5 or so years. Just a sidenote.

Thanks for both of these responses - super interesting, and very appreciated.

 

[WyoHuntr]

I've wondered about this kind of thing, including how outfitters' horses might react to the smell of blood, and if they need to sensitize them at all.

Apparently, prey animals start getting a threat-response triggered in their brains when they smell blood or death smells. Researchers have tracked this with brain scans and in blood samples, with biochemical markers to those responses. Predators start getting an aggression and dominance response. Interestingly, humans experience varying degrees of both.

You guys with lots of packing experience with game - do your horses start getting skittish at all around game you or clients have taken? Smelling blood or meat in game bags, etc? If so, do you do anything other than basic desensitization work with them?

Even a desensitized animal can act different around predator blood. My main horse will stick his nose in a bag of bloody elk, but wouldn't let me touch him or take treats when I had wolf blood on my hands.

I pack a small deal of Vicks vaporub on the off chance I shoot a bear and one of my string gets antsy. When I was a kid we used it on horses new to blood & packing quarters.

 

[deserthunter2016]

Even a desensitized animal can act different around predator blood. My main horse will stick his nose in a bag of bloody elk, but wouldn't let me touch him or take treats when I had wolf blood on my hands.

I pack a small deal of Vicks vaporub on the off chance I shoot a bear and one of my string gets antsy. When I was a kid we used it on horses new to blood & packing quarters.

I was told by and old packer to use Vicks and put a jacket over their head. I’ve packed game on experienced animals but never on new animals. Wondering if this advice is good to avoid a wreck?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RockAndSage]

Even a desensitized animal can act different around predator blood. My main horse will stick his nose in a bag of bloody elk, but wouldn't let me touch him or take treats when I had wolf blood on my hands.

I pack a small deal of Vicks vaporub on the off chance I shoot a bear and one of my string gets antsy. When I was a kid we used it on horses new to blood & packing quarters.

Man, all this is super interesting - love the Vicks tip. It's incredible that they can tell the difference with predator blood. Just for detail, has that happened with other predators (cats, bear, etc), or just an experience with wolf blood?