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[pct-l] Pack animals on PCT
What Brian is saying is very accurate. Having done both the PCT and the
Continental Divide with a single horse (packing and riding), having also
thruhiked the PCT, I recommend you just hike.
a horse, or mule or donkey require a lot of work and training and can be
very dangerous. you have to care for the animal all year long, not just on
the trail. A single animal on the trail will require at a minimum of 20
pounds of dry food a day, which the animal will have to carry for the most
part - guess what? That does not leave any room for your gear.
Good trail animals are rarely sold. A good animal for somebody else is
likely to be a really lousy dangerous animal for you because you have not a
clue as to what you are teaching it to do ( let a horse step into your space
a moment, and the next moment he thinks this guy does not care what I do,
I'll do what ever I want. A horse that thinks it is in charge, is a horse
that you can not control or stop). Training is not a computer chip that you
implant in the brain; it is communication that is happening every moment,
and I would bet that any horse is better at controlling you right now than
you are at controlling him.
Let me see, you will need a barn, 2 tons of hay per animal, pasture,
training places, round pen, saddles, packs, experienced persons to teach
you, horse trailer, truck to haul trailer, farrier, veterinarian to certify
the health to cross state lines, brand inspector to certifiy the animal is
real and yours.
How are you going to know if an animal can pack the PCT with you?. Because
some guy tells you it can?? Do you know what a horsetrader is?? You will
be a sucker for anybody out there, the ones looking to make money ,and the
ones with lots of ego ,and the ones who want to give their animals away to a
"good home" or to somebody that will train and use them(after they have
been a pasture pet, and spoilt by kids or owners). Good luck with that!!!
Goforth
I wonder if this is just not a flame