HORSE PACKING LARGE FORMAT

[William Lindley]

Thanks, Everyone who has answered my question concerning horses/Large Format. For tose who expressed concern; I am currently taking lessons on horsmanship, so I expect to be a decent rider by the time I go out on the trail.

As I have expressed elsewhere in this forum,I have developed a real love of the west while out photographing, and have come more and more under it's spell. I have felt, even though born and raised in California, that through my photography I could form a connection to the west of the past as well as the west as it developes, for good or ill. My primary aim in photography is to capture the romance of the west. I have come to be aware that the cowboy, and his horse are an intragal part of that romance, even though my photography is exclusivly landscape work, I have found it personaly necessary to become as involved in this romance of the west as possible in order to arive at the perspective I put in my work. This has resulted in my desire, even at my age to learn to ride. And to ride as well as I can. I think that the sugesstions about pack mules sounds the best so far, as I could not imagine rideing with a backpack for very long.

Thanks again everyone, Bill

[Blake]

excellent deduction Bill... a loping horse and a backpack over 15lbs would be pure-dee murder on your sacroilliac. Just make sure you get to be the one leading the mules.

It's not very romantic.. but I'll always prefer two wheels.

[Erec Smith Grim]

Good luck, Bill. As Michael Kadillak writes, horses are big and strong and it is sometimes hard to understand just what is going on inside their heads, but they are also fun and I wish I was going with you.

An advantage to using horses (shared with backpacking) is that one can thereby access wilderness areas, where one may not use ATVs or mountain bikes. Note that there will often be regulations requiring that the horses be fed only certified feeds (hay, alfalfa, & grains). These regulations are intended to slow the spread of noxious non-native weeds, which as most readers know is a serious problem in the West.

If anyone is interested, you can look up the text of the Wilderness Act of 1964 on the web. One location is < http://www.wilderness.net/nwps/legis/nwps_act.cfm#5 >. Section 4(a)(1)(c) describes prohibited uses, including motorized or mechanized equipment.

[Blake]

aww, mountain bikes are for hippies... who said anything about that? I'm talkin' a real monoxide-spewin', rock-spittin' sierra-clubber-flattenin' 4 stroke motor'sicle....

they can't catch ya if they can't catch up!

please be nice to the bikers, no rocks and we'll slow down... please support multiple use trails...

[Erec Smith Grim]

Thanks a lot, Trib. I used to think the only thing I had to worry about in the woods was the occasional rabid porcupine. Now if I hear a growl I'll hope it's only a hungry griz, and not a gang of large format photogs on their motorsickles, all flying colors.

Ignorance was bliss.

[Wayne Crider]

Michael is right in his suggestions and views on horses. They can be spooked quite easily and a fall off a tall one can be quite the event. My own horse liked to stop dead short in a lope and try to throw me off. It's other neat trick (of many) was to pretend it had a rock in it's shoe whereby I would get off to check and then it wouldn't let me back on. Since the horse your training on won't be the one you ride, ask plenty of questions about habits. The one thing about any stable horse is that it will know it's way back to the stable, and probably want to go there any chance it gets. You have to be forceful with em. Also, the pack horse/mule is a good suggestion, but learn before you burn. Best use a guide and a pack animal, and overnights are better since you can be at locations at dawn and sunset without worrying about being back on time. Day trips by yourself into back country areas with lots of wildlife should be when you can handle a bolt. Bringing a horse down can be quite the experience with a soft bit in it's mouth. It all appears so romantic, riding horses and all, but if you've been thrown into a tree or bramble 10 or more miles away and are hurt and your horse is gone, you bettter have a backup plan, and the best one is a sidekick.

[Blake]

oh brother Grim... if you don't wreak of patchouilly you needn't worry... but, if I smell a foul hippy stank, then the sport must begin.

I'll lower my goggles and extend and hoist my old bogen to my armpit and rest it's legs on the handlebars ... and grrrrrr.(pssst, watch out for the spikes on that old tripod, they're modified. OH! and don't bring a Ries to a joust, they only work thrice, I know, I've tried.)

love,

tribby: a full-contact photographer



p.s. The center column with a good-sized head can double nicely as a poleaxe but let me suggest an alternative. You'll be tempted to try a super clamp or sturdy monopod for a poleaxe but don't! They just aren't heavy and strong enough. The best poleaxe I've found is a testrite copy stand column. That's right, just find you a grubby, old and used testrite and break the column free from it's base! Now, find a radial saw blade and simply bolt it to the camera mount through the center hole using an old Argus C3 as a retaining nut. The argus will add plenty of heft and balance ... you'll see. Lastly, duct tape the entire contraption to your left hand, nope, only the left, you'll be speed-shifting in a joust so there's no need to clutch. Good luck and see you in the meadow.