Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Jonni,

I have had some personal observations of potential wrecks with extra equipment on horses, but it happened to me more when rounding up cattle.  Then we are not traveling "Trails," but going on cattle and deer paths.  
My worst was while riding a great POA, and you will agree she was great.  I was in a terrible ravine, so steep, on a ranch beside "Grant Ranch" in Santa Clara Co.  Well, I was following some cattle, and I got stuck pushing them up this impossible place for horses to go, because I was riding the shortest horse there.  The tree limbs were too low to go under, so I would do what ever I could to keep following these cows up this steep, steep scramble.  This was too steep to ride, but I was really into proving how tough ponies were to these big Quarter Horse people, so I went on.  Well, I go over a huge root which took the horse to use her rump like she was jumping.  Another branch caught through the cinch.  I was on this mare, and I guess it was good she was so used up from trying to get us up this steep canyon.  I had to keep her calm while I tried to figure how to dismount and then still keep her calm while I figured out how to get her free.  This was so steep, you would have had to climb with your hands to pull you up, so I had a tough time. The tree trunk kept me from uncinching her. I actually got the little mare to back enough to get the branch out and free her.

So another time going up that same rotten canyon, this time with a 2 inch taller mare but still a pony, I lost a stirrup.  Trying to be wiser, I was leading through the impossible places to ride, and remember, this mare is a bit bigger.  I never found that stirrup again.

I spent years moving cattle around the "Grant Ranch" area.  Believe me, you do not want anything extra to hang a horse up on.  Yes, I have used both breast collars and cruppers, but only on a horse who I cannot keep the saddle in place on.  I also had a saddle which always needed a crupper to keep me off the neck of the horse when going down some of those same hills.  I have a bunch of friends who all had accidents from using a crupper on their horses before the horse was really ready for it on the trail.

I ride a Wintec most of the time, and there are good things about that saddle, and there are also the problems.  NO breast collar would keep that saddle from rolling, it is that I have learned to walk out 5 min. on the ground, and then give a final tightening of the cinch.  I have developed a 4 step program to get that saddle tight enough to ride safely.  Tighten, tighten, tighten and then walk distance and tighten again.  I never need a breast collar.  Now on the Tevis, I would use one because the horse looses enough weight that you either tighten more and more, or roll the saddle.  NO matter how tight I get that cinch, my horse is at 40 when I dismount, so he gets enough air.

There are lots of pieces of horse tack and equipment to use, but we sure do not need to use them all, all of the time.  Most were developed for very specific uses, such as roping, driving, racing, jumping, hunting and packing.  There are many more horse wrecks from both driving and packing caused by all of the extra rigging necessary.

Well, I believe in a cinch and I will not ride a loose one, and usually, that is all I need.

Lynge