About Us.....
Having grown up in my early days in and around farming and high country sheep stations, it has given me a good practical grounding of both Mountain country life and learning how to take care of horses and animals in general..
These days living in the North Canterbury town of Rangiora, I do enjoy the convenience of town life, but always seem to find myself casting an eye westward to those Mountains that seem to forever be a calling..!
Having been in business for most of my adult life, I have recently semi retired from the Contracting lifestyle, and these days just drive a truck and trailer unit on night shift a couple nights a week for a local firm, with more time off now to enjoy this lovely equine lifestyle that you can see within this website...
We have 3 horses currently under saddle with one young fellow still growing , each one is thoroughly spoilt.
During the summer months we like to plan mountain trailrides of around a weeks duration each, about once a month depending on weather and our domestic duty obligations.
On our return from trail rides we will post on this website, pics and a written commentary of the ride, so in summer log back in from time to time for the often funny events that tend to unfold on our treks..!
Contacts
Email tested@xtra.co.nz
Email tested@xtra.co.nz
PIcture shows myself (Tony) on my favourite 17.2h T/Bred horse Tom.
This is my tribute photo of Tom who died of colic...
He was 15yrs old .
Tom was our first rescue horse, who had earlier been past from pillar to post with him having caused several owners broken bones in his past life etc..
Unconfirmed information received from one source indicated that in Toms racing life he earn't his trainer / owner in the facility of 100k
We first saw him all alone in mid Southland winter standing in snow with no cover, and we agreed to take him in and look after him
He arrived a bag of bones and in a sorry state.. a scared horse to say the least, but with the remainder of that winter we kept him warm, hard fed him daily resulting in good weight gain..
Initial rides on this big horse were scary to say the least.. he knew how to run alright.. bolting down the road with me on his back on more than a few occasions ..
However a year later and what a different horse.. quite and calm and .. a lovely horse to ride with big paces ...He loved a good Gallop down the beach... it didn't take us long to reach the far end at Bottle Lake beach of 8 kilometres..!
We had him 3 years and I think we gave him a good life... I grew to really love this horse,
I was away on a trek, Fiona had been up to the horses that night to feed and cover them but during the night Colic struck Tom.. by next morning having been on the ground all night, it was too late to save him...
To this day we still don't know what caused this colic, we are fully aware of it and try to avoid sudden changes in feed or diet etc but it happened...
I will never forget this big horse...!
Rest in peace Big Boy.............
We started this website as a result of the keen interest from folks in our circle who often ask where we go, what and how we do it .Seems there are quite a lot of folks who would dearly love to trek on a horse as we do, so hopefully some of you can see and somewhat share in our experiences by reading on this site.
Within this website is a story of my experiences and I have wanted to include a lot of my hard earnt knowledge along with the gear I have pionnered in an effort to encourage other horse folks to get out and have a go..
As you can see from reading in here,we have some of the best horse trekking land right on our back door step that you will find anywhere in the world.
Much of our mountain backcountry is free to travel on any time of year, with huts along the trails work on a first come first serve basis, some having a small charge, many are free...
When we venture into the mountains I always work on the worst case senario with weather and trail conditions, taking more than adequate gear and food supply, as mother nature sometimes likes to suprise us with wild weather, flooded rivers, washed out , and overgrown trails, so we need to be prepared..
I dont want to put anyone off riding the mountain trails with the above statement, but reality does strike at times..!
ps. throughout this entire website, comments and thoughts are from our own experiences and may differ from other folks opinions and experiences.....
Please also excuse my style of English written in here.....!
I hope you enjoy your read.........
About Us continues below the noticeboard section....
Noticeboard.....
South Island Mountain country Route information.....
Over the years, I have travelled on horseback much of the commonly used mountain trail down thru the South Island, and in this time have compiled quite an extensive list of information in relation to this journey..
In recent years I have helped quite a number of parties prepare for this adventure trek, offering advice on daily planning, of distance, terrain encounter, food dumps and supply, horse daily and distance management, along with contact and station name and boundary detail ...
This trek is not for everyone, in that, those who do this need to be self reliant and resourceful, also need to be mentally conditioned to day after day in the saddle, and all the things that crop up unexpectedly in front of them....
As a part of my advice , I try to install the importance of looking after the horses properly, and what to do in the event of mishap...
Conditions along the trail change constantly, and an alternative plan is needed to cope with some of this... snow, flooded rivers. blocked trails, are all an every trek item that needs careful planning...
Many, new to this mountain route have little or no horse packing experience, and to counteract this I offer a hands on learning, packing clinic to teach the basics, along with some horse daily needs management , and horse containment needs where no overnight horse paddock is available at huts along the trail ...
I do have a charge for providing all this information, and teaching to arm the traveller with knowledge , along with help sourcing horses, and travel gear needed... I recommend that folks interested in this journey make contact with me in their early planning stages.... I provide this information largely as a result of hearing a number of previous parties having not planned adequately, especially regarding the use and management of horses ..
Talking to a number of station managers / owners we hear of emaciated and underweight horses... poor feet condition, overloading of pack and riding horses... stories of horses falling off pack tracks thru inexperience... even horses needing to be put down as a direct result of poor horse management....
Over the years, I have travelled on horseback much of the commonly used mountain trail down thru the South Island, and in this time have compiled quite an extensive list of information in relation to this journey..
In recent years I have helped quite a number of parties prepare for this adventure trek, offering advice on daily planning, of distance, terrain encounter, food dumps and supply, horse daily and distance management, along with contact and station name and boundary detail ...
This trek is not for everyone, in that, those who do this need to be self reliant and resourceful, also need to be mentally conditioned to day after day in the saddle, and all the things that crop up unexpectedly in front of them....
As a part of my advice , I try to install the importance of looking after the horses properly, and what to do in the event of mishap...
Conditions along the trail change constantly, and an alternative plan is needed to cope with some of this... snow, flooded rivers. blocked trails, are all an every trek item that needs careful planning...
Many, new to this mountain route have little or no horse packing experience, and to counteract this I offer a hands on learning, packing clinic to teach the basics, along with some horse daily needs management , and horse containment needs where no overnight horse paddock is available at huts along the trail ...
I do have a charge for providing all this information, and teaching to arm the traveller with knowledge , along with help sourcing horses, and travel gear needed... I recommend that folks interested in this journey make contact with me in their early planning stages.... I provide this information largely as a result of hearing a number of previous parties having not planned adequately, especially regarding the use and management of horses ..
Talking to a number of station managers / owners we hear of emaciated and underweight horses... poor feet condition, overloading of pack and riding horses... stories of horses falling off pack tracks thru inexperience... even horses needing to be put down as a direct result of poor horse management....
Horse Packing Clinics
We offer practical tutorials over a three day time frame, to learn all the ins and outs of packing horses, camping with horses, camp cooking, and an overnight packing trek to a local river location for a full hands on experience...
This clinic includes...
Pack saddle and pannier choice....
Fitting a pack saddle to various size horses.. (do's and dont's )
Pannier packing and balancing
Loading panniers to your horse, then the art of balance testing, load cover and knot tying of loads
Overnight Horse containment at camp (where no fencing or paddocks are present)
Splicing to make your very own lead ropes
How to high line your horse overnight ( do's and dont's )
Introducion to leg tying of your horse at camp
Camp cooking using the camp oven and fire building requirement
Food management discussion required for various lengths of treks
Practical hands on overnight horse packing and tenting trek......combined with further teaching in the various uses of the camp oven including building your very own roast of meat and veges... delicious..!
Following this clinic you should be able to venture forth armed with suitable knowledge to enjoy camping on your own with your own horses....
Contact email tested@xtra.co.nz
Thought of the week.....! ( Life, as seen thru the eyes of an old fossil..... )
You know.....the old horse is an amazing creature..!
Earlier today, I was on my way home and came up behind a vehicle towing a horse float...
Following this as the driver drove through country winding roads with lots of bumps, twists and turns I started to watch the horses movements, and demeanour...
I was simply amazed how calm this horse remained.. over bumps in the road... leaning in around corners... a large truck and trailer unit comes thru on the other side of the road at it... all that happened was ears from forward to straight back as it past ....
I followed this float for around 20 minutes , and thinking this horse is just one of so many who willingly walk up into this moblie box be tied up and a back door closed sort of trapping it within and then just stands there totally trusting his or her owner....
I know myself... floating horses up into the back country.. some of those shingle roads are not exactly smooth , with stream fords, up hill and down dale.. in summer the horses putting up with clouds of dust swirling inside the float to such an extend when we arrive at the unloading area. both horses are covered in it and look the same colour... I know my float is quite rattly as well from all those years of back country shingle roads,, and yet, once we have completed our trek. I just open the back door, throw the lead rope over each horses neck and they in turn just free load.. happy obviously to stand and be carted around once again...
From my own observations, and as a result of these findings.. and generally speaking here... if a horse is happy to walk on a float , ( and I am talking one who has gotten used to floating..) then he or she is comfortable with your speed and style of driving..!
If you are finding that your horse after a while starts to not want to walk up into it.. you need to ask a couple of questions of yourself... Why is my horse all of a sudden refusing to load... and what can I do about it...
What is interesting is some will call this horse naughty... some will bring out whips and ropes to try and force the horse onboard.. however they have overlooked . or not understood what the horse is trying to tell them..... "Naughty horse"..... I dont think so..!
Horses cannot speak our language as such, but he or she will find otherways to let you know what they are thinking... if your horse is reluctant to load.. its often because something has "scared" him or her on the float.. and nine times out of ten.. its the speed and cornering of the driver that needs to be looked at...
Something else.. on a personal note.... my horses also dont "poo" that much while in there.. even on some longer float rides.... this to me indicated that they are fairly happy campers travelling along...
So there you go.. just some simple thoughts for this week.. I so love my horse world... and the longer I own them the more in tune I am becoming.... they have simply amazed me..!
Earlier today, I was on my way home and came up behind a vehicle towing a horse float...
Following this as the driver drove through country winding roads with lots of bumps, twists and turns I started to watch the horses movements, and demeanour...
I was simply amazed how calm this horse remained.. over bumps in the road... leaning in around corners... a large truck and trailer unit comes thru on the other side of the road at it... all that happened was ears from forward to straight back as it past ....
I followed this float for around 20 minutes , and thinking this horse is just one of so many who willingly walk up into this moblie box be tied up and a back door closed sort of trapping it within and then just stands there totally trusting his or her owner....
I know myself... floating horses up into the back country.. some of those shingle roads are not exactly smooth , with stream fords, up hill and down dale.. in summer the horses putting up with clouds of dust swirling inside the float to such an extend when we arrive at the unloading area. both horses are covered in it and look the same colour... I know my float is quite rattly as well from all those years of back country shingle roads,, and yet, once we have completed our trek. I just open the back door, throw the lead rope over each horses neck and they in turn just free load.. happy obviously to stand and be carted around once again...
From my own observations, and as a result of these findings.. and generally speaking here... if a horse is happy to walk on a float , ( and I am talking one who has gotten used to floating..) then he or she is comfortable with your speed and style of driving..!
If you are finding that your horse after a while starts to not want to walk up into it.. you need to ask a couple of questions of yourself... Why is my horse all of a sudden refusing to load... and what can I do about it...
What is interesting is some will call this horse naughty... some will bring out whips and ropes to try and force the horse onboard.. however they have overlooked . or not understood what the horse is trying to tell them..... "Naughty horse"..... I dont think so..!
Horses cannot speak our language as such, but he or she will find otherways to let you know what they are thinking... if your horse is reluctant to load.. its often because something has "scared" him or her on the float.. and nine times out of ten.. its the speed and cornering of the driver that needs to be looked at...
Something else.. on a personal note.... my horses also dont "poo" that much while in there.. even on some longer float rides.... this to me indicated that they are fairly happy campers travelling along...
So there you go.. just some simple thoughts for this week.. I so love my horse world... and the longer I own them the more in tune I am becoming.... they have simply amazed me..!
Doubt.... of any kind, can be ended by "action"...
*A question for you...!!
How long would you reasonably expect to get out of a pair of top quality ARIAT BOOTS.....????
Scroll down the page while you think of your answer to a pic of my ARIAT BOOTS..below..!
*Email correspondence
Below are just a couple of emails received regarding the value folks gain from information within this site, and enjoyment ....often at my expense ... with the funny things that seem to happen while away with my horses in the mountains....
I receive emails from overseas folks commenting on some of the photos in here of our mountain country, inspiring them to look at coming to New Zealand to experience this place for themselves..
Its nice that folks write in with there comments and views....
Subject: Horses and trekking
Hi Tony & Fiona,
Wow what an amazing website. We have just learnt an incredible amount of information on trekking and all that entails just from your website, that I don't think any book could ever teach us!!!!!!
We have recently become really interested on trekking our horses, we see now that this is going to be a huge learning curve for us and our horses. Where do we start with this process.
How do we know if we have the right horses for trekking, and how are we best to start training them?
Eventually we would like to join you on some of your treks, they look amazing, but I think we have quite abit of work to do until then.
Hoping you can help us to get started.
Regards
Glen & Teena Lovelock
Subject: Great www site
Hi Tony and Fiona,
I would like to compliment you on your fantastic website! I "tripped" over it by accident when searching for trekking information in Nth Canterbury.
The detail you have explained, along with your outstanding photographs (I'm a police photographer by trade) is excellent and has been a great source of info for us.
My family and I are at West Melton with our 3 horses, mine being an 18hh clydie cross which I am keen on getting off the property and into the back country, as I grew up being taking tramping and fly-fishing by my late father all over the Hanmer area.
Anyway, your web site is great and has really inspired me to get myself organised and out there!
Kind regards,
Geoff.
Subject: Trekking inquiry ..
Hi, Tony ,thanks for your email ,we are at last getting rain which is long over due but better late than never ,I have had a look over your web site man you have put a lot of effort and information into it well done ! , we would be very keen to do a pack trek with you ,the route ,timing and style of trekking looks awesome . Being well organized and equipped with rest days to soak in the surroundings really suits us.
I have a couple of questions,
Do you have charges for your pack treks ?
Are the places you trek accessible by horse truck or only float and 4wd ?
Would bringing 4 riders (2couples)and all horses /equipment be ok ?
Would one pack horse per couple be suitable ?
Which set of pack saddle panniers do you find most suitable for your trekking terrain?
I have the oversize bear cloth panniers with Coleman chilly bins that fit snugly in they are quite wide though but very robust and stable what do you think ?
I look forward to your reply , thanks Craig
Aspire to inspire before we expire.....
Scroll down the page while you think of your answer to a pic of my ARIAT BOOTS..below..!
*Email correspondence
Below are just a couple of emails received regarding the value folks gain from information within this site, and enjoyment ....often at my expense ... with the funny things that seem to happen while away with my horses in the mountains....
I receive emails from overseas folks commenting on some of the photos in here of our mountain country, inspiring them to look at coming to New Zealand to experience this place for themselves..
Its nice that folks write in with there comments and views....
Subject: Horses and trekking
Hi Tony & Fiona,
Wow what an amazing website. We have just learnt an incredible amount of information on trekking and all that entails just from your website, that I don't think any book could ever teach us!!!!!!
We have recently become really interested on trekking our horses, we see now that this is going to be a huge learning curve for us and our horses. Where do we start with this process.
How do we know if we have the right horses for trekking, and how are we best to start training them?
Eventually we would like to join you on some of your treks, they look amazing, but I think we have quite abit of work to do until then.
Hoping you can help us to get started.
Regards
Glen & Teena Lovelock
Subject: Great www site
Hi Tony and Fiona,
I would like to compliment you on your fantastic website! I "tripped" over it by accident when searching for trekking information in Nth Canterbury.
The detail you have explained, along with your outstanding photographs (I'm a police photographer by trade) is excellent and has been a great source of info for us.
My family and I are at West Melton with our 3 horses, mine being an 18hh clydie cross which I am keen on getting off the property and into the back country, as I grew up being taking tramping and fly-fishing by my late father all over the Hanmer area.
Anyway, your web site is great and has really inspired me to get myself organised and out there!
Kind regards,
Geoff.
Subject: Trekking inquiry ..
Hi, Tony ,thanks for your email ,we are at last getting rain which is long over due but better late than never ,I have had a look over your web site man you have put a lot of effort and information into it well done ! , we would be very keen to do a pack trek with you ,the route ,timing and style of trekking looks awesome . Being well organized and equipped with rest days to soak in the surroundings really suits us.
I have a couple of questions,
Do you have charges for your pack treks ?
Are the places you trek accessible by horse truck or only float and 4wd ?
Would bringing 4 riders (2couples)and all horses /equipment be ok ?
Would one pack horse per couple be suitable ?
Which set of pack saddle panniers do you find most suitable for your trekking terrain?
I have the oversize bear cloth panniers with Coleman chilly bins that fit snugly in they are quite wide though but very robust and stable what do you think ?
I look forward to your reply , thanks Craig
Aspire to inspire before we expire.....
*How long would you reasonably expect a new pair of ARIAT BOOTS to last....??
At 9 months old I returned these boots to the saddler I purchased them from as they had developed severe cracking in the leather as per the back boot in the photo, to be told that this was a result of deglect and the boot waranty didnt cover neglect.... Bull dust..!
These boots have been oiled around four times in that nine months, and... have only been used for riding and trekking of which.. I have done a little of that granted... but... looking at them here at 13 months , now with nice air vents in the sides of both boots, its a great feature for letting any water accumulated within, out over this winter time..
I paid $ 349 for these, and wonder if this is value for money.... I think not..!
Both the saddlery and the Ariat Boot Company in the States dont want to know about a replacement, or part replacement, as sure, I have had a years use..
The saddlery, has sent now two lots of photos to Ariat, and while in there, the saddley owner telephone to States company about this matter......
Interesting, talking to a good friend of mine who also trains and rides horses extensively, about these boots short life, was saying five years ago he bought a similar style pair from a well known Australian cowboy apparel name, and todate, although showing some signs of wear, have no cracking or indeed holes in the side....
Ariat Boot Company, I hope you look at this, and are happy that you have done nothing to apease this customer...!
These boots have been oiled around four times in that nine months, and... have only been used for riding and trekking of which.. I have done a little of that granted... but... looking at them here at 13 months , now with nice air vents in the sides of both boots, its a great feature for letting any water accumulated within, out over this winter time..
I paid $ 349 for these, and wonder if this is value for money.... I think not..!
Both the saddlery and the Ariat Boot Company in the States dont want to know about a replacement, or part replacement, as sure, I have had a years use..
The saddlery, has sent now two lots of photos to Ariat, and while in there, the saddley owner telephone to States company about this matter......
Interesting, talking to a good friend of mine who also trains and rides horses extensively, about these boots short life, was saying five years ago he bought a similar style pair from a well known Australian cowboy apparel name, and todate, although showing some signs of wear, have no cracking or indeed holes in the side....
Ariat Boot Company, I hope you look at this, and are happy that you have done nothing to apease this customer...!
*You may remember this wild horse we were quietly pursuing back in winter......!!
Update...
Back last winter Mary and I were trying to shift this wild horse from potential danger of being shot, and after interference with another party this horse disappeared from his mountain habitat of the previous three years..
A DoC Ranger several weeks later located him over again in the Waiau headwaters and we had hoped that he would then join up with a small wild herd in this area, however, over the next several months he worked his way down the Ada homestead and was hanging around the outskirts, so Chris Dampier-Crosley opened the yard gate and he walked in..
This horse over the past while has now been started under saddle out there, and hearing about his performance is doing well..
He has been named Clarence, (after his previous wild natural habitat of the previous three years)...
So a nice end to this story on this horse.. we wish him well in his new life....!
Back last winter Mary and I were trying to shift this wild horse from potential danger of being shot, and after interference with another party this horse disappeared from his mountain habitat of the previous three years..
A DoC Ranger several weeks later located him over again in the Waiau headwaters and we had hoped that he would then join up with a small wild herd in this area, however, over the next several months he worked his way down the Ada homestead and was hanging around the outskirts, so Chris Dampier-Crosley opened the yard gate and he walked in..
This horse over the past while has now been started under saddle out there, and hearing about his performance is doing well..
He has been named Clarence, (after his previous wild natural habitat of the previous three years)...
So a nice end to this story on this horse.. we wish him well in his new life....!
* Horse Trekking is popular on the net....
I have had this site up and running since beginning of August year (2012 )and in the 22 months since (end May 2014 ) the site has averaged 50 site visits per day, some days well over 200....many days over a hundred..
To date the hit counter is sitting on 46216... the month of May 2014 recorded 2483 hits.. ( To me that is a lot of people either first time viewers or regular folks logging back in...I am simply amazed....! )
Thru this site, I have become friends with folks in other parts of NZ, in the USA, who love our riding scenery and largely free access into much of our mountain country to trek over, who in turn have shown others over there..Friends also in Canada, Australia, and other part of the world ..
I had no idea when I started this the huge interest and following that this site has attracted...
I feel humbled to be able to bring to folks via this site, my adventures and experiences with horse travel....
Tony..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is not always about bigger, better and faster.
As we gain a little age its nice to be able to step off the fast paced train of society (so to speak), and do a little walking.......(smilies)
Take it easy..! Tony
About Us continues........
A typical broken down old horseman..(smiles)
Me (tony) doing what I love doing in my spare time.
Saddling up a horse and riding off into the sunset... well almost.!.lol
My early days were spent working on Mesopotamia Station,where I had a great mentor in Malcolm ( Senior ) Prouting, he treated me almost like a son, and taught me values and many aspects of a young mans development.
Often thrown in the deep end with situations that arise, taught me to be able to think on my feet so to speak and keep myself safe.
The Station had quiet an aray of character horses who often gave a new comer the ride of there lives, but I seemed to get on well with one big 17 hh stationbred gelding by the name of "Blood" so blood became my stock horse..
We learnt to make and then fit our own horse with shoes.. none of this today buying premade jobs... just a length of shoe iron and in the blacksmith shop, you learnt to get the forge working to the right temp and using a rough shoe template hammer beat the steel to the approx size and shape of your horses feet, and punch the nail holes in the red hot shoe, then finally hot shoe fit them to your horse..
Because this country was tough on horse shoes I used to make a full spare set exactly the same as the set going on Blood and take these with me when heading out to do a weeks fencing or stock work at one of the many huts on the station.. other guys used to just carry on with their horse stock work if their horse slipped a shoe, but I liked to look after my mount properly....
The boss gave us the broad outline of how to do a lot of station chores and then encouraged all of us to make the best of every job you did...and if that job wasnt good enough.. you were encouraged to do it again..lol.....I was just 18 yrs old when I started
I remember one fence line we built up a steep face of the high terrace,.. two of us spent several days digging posts in with standards in between, in rocky ground when upon the boss turned up, sighted along the row of posts and declared that that one, and that one and the two up further were not in line... can you kindly pull those ones back out and stand them straight like the rest that you boys managed to plant correctly... all that sweat for nothing..lol....
Only once in whole time I worked on the station did Malcolm loose his cool with me, generally he was a very good boss, demanding... but fair ..(See the stories section for the time I well and truely got told off..lol)
While there I learnt to Fly with the Canterbury Aero Club, gaining my pilots licence in 1978 and over time clocked some 1200 hours of mainly mountain flying in small aircraft, all incident free....!
Laurie Prouting was a huge help when I was learning to fly, teaching me in reading the conditions of the ever changing mountain enviroment, with his thousands of flying hours experience.
I have always called the mountain areas home and feel peace and at ease in this enviroment......!
One of the things I like doing is researching out at home some of the old horse pack tracks that our pioneers carved out and today where possible riding these again... Many of todays Back Country "walking tracks" were indeed old pack tracks serving the remote farms and deer culler camps such as much of the todays St James Walkway......the Christopher (Ada )and Anne Cullers huts, the Rokeby, Jervous , and Lake Guyon were all deer cullers huts in the area.
The St James Walking track that starts at the northern end (of the Lewis pass) and dropping down into the Maruia River and following up thru the Cannibal Gorge was one difficult section Horse packed on....Imagine a pack string in that section of steep rocky mountain country in all weathers...(see pic below ) I take my hat off to those guys who did this for a living...
Stories for example of the early Bluff Station ( now the Muzzle Station ) in the remote Clarence Region having two pack teams, one based in Kaikoura packing in everything needed to run the farm including in the early days one entire tractor, disasembled entirely and parts packed in over the inland Kaikoura mountains to a half way point in the Seymour River called the Bluff Dump Hut, to be picked up by the other pack team based at the Bluff Station.
This Bluff pack team of 18 Mules used to pack small wool bales out from the station to the bluff dump hut two per mule, then repack the incoming supplies on the pack mules and return to the station, load up more wool and return,..... backwards and forwards.........one year I heard they packed out 1200 small wool bales... no easy task for the packies with these teams over narrow tracked mountain passes backwards and forwards thru most weathers.........They were real men and real horses unlike today...!
On line, a recent story of the early US forest service pack mule team were asked to pack out an entire light aircraft that had crashed in the wilderness.... piece by piece.... reading this story the plane had crashed many years earlier and the forest service wanted the site cleaned up... I bet it would have taken some doing to balance each load for the trip out..... no easy task.....
We have taken in a number of troubled horses that have given previous owners grief, along with the "rescue" horses and given each one a new start.
I love seeing the results over time as each horse learns to gain confidence and settles down to the good life we offer.
I believe it is a privilege to be accepted as a horses leader...... Its the horse who decides this, if and when....!
Horses can take sometimes up to a year to accept us as their leader, depending on their past......
You can bully, or force some horses perhaps....... but we find, .....gentle, quiet, consistent, but persistent over time ..........pays dividends...!
Some new horses, with more difficult issues,( often as a result of human mishandling) are turned out for a while to give them a chance to settle, then we will start to take them away on the odd trek, even just being led with no saddle or load..
They quietly relearn cues and have time to look at us.... later these horses are saddled with a pack saddle and become pack horses and in further time are reintroduced to saddle riding again....
I personally, quietly expose all our horses to anything and everything over time,(obviously, only with things that wont harm them) ,up and down steep banks and hills, thru mud , creeks, streams and deep rivers, ride them on windy days with things banging and flapping in the wind, ride them in the rain.... thru forests, beaches, in the sea. etc etc , all the time quietly talking and reassuring them and they learn ..... If Mum or Dad says its ok... then what ever is coming in front, side or behind them wont hurt them.. They learn to trust and with that they learn confidence....!
We do a lot of roadside riding, have a major forest in the hills behind us and have to contend with a constant stream of logging trucks, stock trucks that rattle, combine harvesters in summer, tractors, loud cars... etc etc... Our horses in time become used to it all and dont give a dam what passes..
Bombproof style horses are not miracle horses, just ones that have been trained to understand that the big wide world is not full of "trolls under the bridge" ready to jump out.... these horses have been trained to become confident in their surroundings..... to me..... safe riding horses.!
I can often be seen riding the back roads and trails around our area with a second horse beside me totally loose trotting along ... its about trust, training and leadership...they love to be free on the trail.
Its not about tying the horse down with all the modern apparatus so it can hardly move, to me this just causes the horse to feel "trapped" and often will continue to be difficult.... time and quiet consistent training is a great tool...
Over time, with consistent riding , handling and training, we have come across a system that more often than not has led our once "unruley new arrivals", becoming confident schoolmaster style horses, it doesnt happen in five minutes but it does happen..... Tom the Thoroughbred, Shae, Connor, Bracken, Red, all were a handful to manage when first arrived, but after time they are all bombproof, and schoolmaster safe riding horses..
I need this school master style of horse for trekking.. the below photo of a typical pack track requires a horse that is trustworthy, sound and confident, to be able to cope with me riding or it fully loaded with the pack gear, to do so safely and surefooted....
Imagine the consequence of riding a horse on one of the below pack tracks for that horse shying at something and without thinking spin away from the object... there is no room on the track except over the side.....
It takes time, and it takes patience.....!
Horses are such a rewarding creature to know and be around.....!
Personally, my experience has taught me that from first starting with a horse, it can take some twelve months of regular riding and handling to become "one.." in that I mean.. the horse and the rider knowing each other quite well thus understanding each other.... and further experience has taught me that it takes around two years to really develop a horse into a "school master" style, with seasoned experiences and sound knowledge... I see many horse owners / riders trying to rush the learning of their horse, and wondering why it becomes confused or not doing the "push button" work it should.... as said earlier, horses need a combination of trust in you firstly... consistency in your approach... quite persistence .. and a lot of repetition to learn...unfortunately, not all folks have the patience and consistency to get the best out of a horse...
I love a relationship between my horse and myself, each of our horses is made up differently,most start out insecure, but you know I have found a style of equine leadership that works and works well... be kind and quiet, gentle, consistent, but persistent..resist the urge to tell him off for the small things a horse doesnt do right for you, he needs repetition to learn,, just quietly correct him, talk positively to him lots.. they need and love reassurance... and ride him..... LOTS...
Riding your horse, give him lots of variety... you may aspire to take your horse to a high level in the Dressage, or Show jumping, or Western pleasure worlds etc, with these disciplines requiring hours of concentration and repetition to learn, but break it up with trail rides, road rides... or to the beach.... your horse will thank you and often be happy to then continue on the intense learning development you require....
I really dislike seeing folks wearing spurs on a horse.... as a fashion statement...." look at me with my spurs on walking around the supermarket or walking around the Rodeo grounds on show day " is ok.. but not on a horse... Spurs to my mind should only be used by the gentlest of professional riders as a leg aid extension..
I cringe when at for example Western riding or Dressage events are held with inexperienced riders using these to boot the horse along.... even worse I see kids wearing them on horses....I see riders booting horses with these to make them do as they wish.... I see horse riding club members following their peers who wear them inspiring these folks who know nothing about correct use wearing them.... Personally I would like to see these banned...!
You wont see me on any horse with a whip or spurs... both these things are force training aids.. there are other ways of encouraging a horse to do things for you without the use of force..!
And Tony... I dont think these spurs do much attached to my boots walking around the supermarket..... I cant see me kicking the carrots into the shopping trolley with them...!..lol
The calm and easy horses are generally the ones who are taken out to all sorts and ridden lots.....
Its interesting, I have four horses, of all sorts of breeds and have come from all sorts of backgrounds, and all five have the same calm easy to ride anywhere temperament... personally, I don't feed any of my horses any artificial or factory produced feeds other than a mineral block and once a week I feed a cap full of selenium .. they are on grass summer winter spring autumn, we feed hay on demand all year round...and in the winter months they get a nightly warm mash feed of crushed barley and oat chaff.... I don't notice any difference in their temperament or riding style from summer to winter...The reason.... all our horses are kept in work... each ridden or ponied a couple times a week totalling some 20 kilometres or so....!
I hear lots of stories about folks not feeding their horse grass in spring summer etc because it plays up.... to my personal mind, its the horse not in enough work and over fed on rubbish they certainly don't need that causes 99% of these related problems..
A good horse lady friend of mine who is well in her 70s and been around horse all her life says the same.. if she wishes to fatten an underweight horse she feeds crushed Barley, if she wants energy for her show jumping or trekking she feed chaff and oats, like me.. 50 / 50... it works for me......
ps... the above comments here are soley my own thoughts on our own horses only...My style of equine leadership is applicable only to trail riding.. obviously a rider wanting their horse for dressage or western pursuits require correct control all the time ...!
Saddling up a horse and riding off into the sunset... well almost.!.lol
My early days were spent working on Mesopotamia Station,where I had a great mentor in Malcolm ( Senior ) Prouting, he treated me almost like a son, and taught me values and many aspects of a young mans development.
Often thrown in the deep end with situations that arise, taught me to be able to think on my feet so to speak and keep myself safe.
The Station had quiet an aray of character horses who often gave a new comer the ride of there lives, but I seemed to get on well with one big 17 hh stationbred gelding by the name of "Blood" so blood became my stock horse..
We learnt to make and then fit our own horse with shoes.. none of this today buying premade jobs... just a length of shoe iron and in the blacksmith shop, you learnt to get the forge working to the right temp and using a rough shoe template hammer beat the steel to the approx size and shape of your horses feet, and punch the nail holes in the red hot shoe, then finally hot shoe fit them to your horse..
Because this country was tough on horse shoes I used to make a full spare set exactly the same as the set going on Blood and take these with me when heading out to do a weeks fencing or stock work at one of the many huts on the station.. other guys used to just carry on with their horse stock work if their horse slipped a shoe, but I liked to look after my mount properly....
The boss gave us the broad outline of how to do a lot of station chores and then encouraged all of us to make the best of every job you did...and if that job wasnt good enough.. you were encouraged to do it again..lol.....I was just 18 yrs old when I started
I remember one fence line we built up a steep face of the high terrace,.. two of us spent several days digging posts in with standards in between, in rocky ground when upon the boss turned up, sighted along the row of posts and declared that that one, and that one and the two up further were not in line... can you kindly pull those ones back out and stand them straight like the rest that you boys managed to plant correctly... all that sweat for nothing..lol....
Only once in whole time I worked on the station did Malcolm loose his cool with me, generally he was a very good boss, demanding... but fair ..(See the stories section for the time I well and truely got told off..lol)
While there I learnt to Fly with the Canterbury Aero Club, gaining my pilots licence in 1978 and over time clocked some 1200 hours of mainly mountain flying in small aircraft, all incident free....!
Laurie Prouting was a huge help when I was learning to fly, teaching me in reading the conditions of the ever changing mountain enviroment, with his thousands of flying hours experience.
I have always called the mountain areas home and feel peace and at ease in this enviroment......!
One of the things I like doing is researching out at home some of the old horse pack tracks that our pioneers carved out and today where possible riding these again... Many of todays Back Country "walking tracks" were indeed old pack tracks serving the remote farms and deer culler camps such as much of the todays St James Walkway......the Christopher (Ada )and Anne Cullers huts, the Rokeby, Jervous , and Lake Guyon were all deer cullers huts in the area.
The St James Walking track that starts at the northern end (of the Lewis pass) and dropping down into the Maruia River and following up thru the Cannibal Gorge was one difficult section Horse packed on....Imagine a pack string in that section of steep rocky mountain country in all weathers...(see pic below ) I take my hat off to those guys who did this for a living...
Stories for example of the early Bluff Station ( now the Muzzle Station ) in the remote Clarence Region having two pack teams, one based in Kaikoura packing in everything needed to run the farm including in the early days one entire tractor, disasembled entirely and parts packed in over the inland Kaikoura mountains to a half way point in the Seymour River called the Bluff Dump Hut, to be picked up by the other pack team based at the Bluff Station.
This Bluff pack team of 18 Mules used to pack small wool bales out from the station to the bluff dump hut two per mule, then repack the incoming supplies on the pack mules and return to the station, load up more wool and return,..... backwards and forwards.........one year I heard they packed out 1200 small wool bales... no easy task for the packies with these teams over narrow tracked mountain passes backwards and forwards thru most weathers.........They were real men and real horses unlike today...!
On line, a recent story of the early US forest service pack mule team were asked to pack out an entire light aircraft that had crashed in the wilderness.... piece by piece.... reading this story the plane had crashed many years earlier and the forest service wanted the site cleaned up... I bet it would have taken some doing to balance each load for the trip out..... no easy task.....
We have taken in a number of troubled horses that have given previous owners grief, along with the "rescue" horses and given each one a new start.
I love seeing the results over time as each horse learns to gain confidence and settles down to the good life we offer.
I believe it is a privilege to be accepted as a horses leader...... Its the horse who decides this, if and when....!
Horses can take sometimes up to a year to accept us as their leader, depending on their past......
You can bully, or force some horses perhaps....... but we find, .....gentle, quiet, consistent, but persistent over time ..........pays dividends...!
Some new horses, with more difficult issues,( often as a result of human mishandling) are turned out for a while to give them a chance to settle, then we will start to take them away on the odd trek, even just being led with no saddle or load..
They quietly relearn cues and have time to look at us.... later these horses are saddled with a pack saddle and become pack horses and in further time are reintroduced to saddle riding again....
I personally, quietly expose all our horses to anything and everything over time,(obviously, only with things that wont harm them) ,up and down steep banks and hills, thru mud , creeks, streams and deep rivers, ride them on windy days with things banging and flapping in the wind, ride them in the rain.... thru forests, beaches, in the sea. etc etc , all the time quietly talking and reassuring them and they learn ..... If Mum or Dad says its ok... then what ever is coming in front, side or behind them wont hurt them.. They learn to trust and with that they learn confidence....!
We do a lot of roadside riding, have a major forest in the hills behind us and have to contend with a constant stream of logging trucks, stock trucks that rattle, combine harvesters in summer, tractors, loud cars... etc etc... Our horses in time become used to it all and dont give a dam what passes..
Bombproof style horses are not miracle horses, just ones that have been trained to understand that the big wide world is not full of "trolls under the bridge" ready to jump out.... these horses have been trained to become confident in their surroundings..... to me..... safe riding horses.!
I can often be seen riding the back roads and trails around our area with a second horse beside me totally loose trotting along ... its about trust, training and leadership...they love to be free on the trail.
Its not about tying the horse down with all the modern apparatus so it can hardly move, to me this just causes the horse to feel "trapped" and often will continue to be difficult.... time and quiet consistent training is a great tool...
Over time, with consistent riding , handling and training, we have come across a system that more often than not has led our once "unruley new arrivals", becoming confident schoolmaster style horses, it doesnt happen in five minutes but it does happen..... Tom the Thoroughbred, Shae, Connor, Bracken, Red, all were a handful to manage when first arrived, but after time they are all bombproof, and schoolmaster safe riding horses..
I need this school master style of horse for trekking.. the below photo of a typical pack track requires a horse that is trustworthy, sound and confident, to be able to cope with me riding or it fully loaded with the pack gear, to do so safely and surefooted....
Imagine the consequence of riding a horse on one of the below pack tracks for that horse shying at something and without thinking spin away from the object... there is no room on the track except over the side.....
It takes time, and it takes patience.....!
Horses are such a rewarding creature to know and be around.....!
Personally, my experience has taught me that from first starting with a horse, it can take some twelve months of regular riding and handling to become "one.." in that I mean.. the horse and the rider knowing each other quite well thus understanding each other.... and further experience has taught me that it takes around two years to really develop a horse into a "school master" style, with seasoned experiences and sound knowledge... I see many horse owners / riders trying to rush the learning of their horse, and wondering why it becomes confused or not doing the "push button" work it should.... as said earlier, horses need a combination of trust in you firstly... consistency in your approach... quite persistence .. and a lot of repetition to learn...unfortunately, not all folks have the patience and consistency to get the best out of a horse...
I love a relationship between my horse and myself, each of our horses is made up differently,most start out insecure, but you know I have found a style of equine leadership that works and works well... be kind and quiet, gentle, consistent, but persistent..resist the urge to tell him off for the small things a horse doesnt do right for you, he needs repetition to learn,, just quietly correct him, talk positively to him lots.. they need and love reassurance... and ride him..... LOTS...
Riding your horse, give him lots of variety... you may aspire to take your horse to a high level in the Dressage, or Show jumping, or Western pleasure worlds etc, with these disciplines requiring hours of concentration and repetition to learn, but break it up with trail rides, road rides... or to the beach.... your horse will thank you and often be happy to then continue on the intense learning development you require....
I really dislike seeing folks wearing spurs on a horse.... as a fashion statement...." look at me with my spurs on walking around the supermarket or walking around the Rodeo grounds on show day " is ok.. but not on a horse... Spurs to my mind should only be used by the gentlest of professional riders as a leg aid extension..
I cringe when at for example Western riding or Dressage events are held with inexperienced riders using these to boot the horse along.... even worse I see kids wearing them on horses....I see riders booting horses with these to make them do as they wish.... I see horse riding club members following their peers who wear them inspiring these folks who know nothing about correct use wearing them.... Personally I would like to see these banned...!
You wont see me on any horse with a whip or spurs... both these things are force training aids.. there are other ways of encouraging a horse to do things for you without the use of force..!
And Tony... I dont think these spurs do much attached to my boots walking around the supermarket..... I cant see me kicking the carrots into the shopping trolley with them...!..lol
The calm and easy horses are generally the ones who are taken out to all sorts and ridden lots.....
Its interesting, I have four horses, of all sorts of breeds and have come from all sorts of backgrounds, and all five have the same calm easy to ride anywhere temperament... personally, I don't feed any of my horses any artificial or factory produced feeds other than a mineral block and once a week I feed a cap full of selenium .. they are on grass summer winter spring autumn, we feed hay on demand all year round...and in the winter months they get a nightly warm mash feed of crushed barley and oat chaff.... I don't notice any difference in their temperament or riding style from summer to winter...The reason.... all our horses are kept in work... each ridden or ponied a couple times a week totalling some 20 kilometres or so....!
I hear lots of stories about folks not feeding their horse grass in spring summer etc because it plays up.... to my personal mind, its the horse not in enough work and over fed on rubbish they certainly don't need that causes 99% of these related problems..
A good horse lady friend of mine who is well in her 70s and been around horse all her life says the same.. if she wishes to fatten an underweight horse she feeds crushed Barley, if she wants energy for her show jumping or trekking she feed chaff and oats, like me.. 50 / 50... it works for me......
ps... the above comments here are soley my own thoughts on our own horses only...My style of equine leadership is applicable only to trail riding.. obviously a rider wanting their horse for dressage or western pursuits require correct control all the time ...!
Don't allow people to set "your" life limitations.....Without the help of others you will be suprised how much further your lifes journeys will take you....... trust in yourself........!
Mauria River original pack track high up the side of the Libretto Ranges...
This original pack track has been converted to a walking track but gives an idea of some of the areas the early pack teams traversed, supplying the deer culler camps..
The pack track typically, a mountainside one side, a narrow track, and if one looks over the side.. its often a long way down..
Suprisingly, very few horses are lost over the side, they are smart careful animals..
When I look at purchasing a new horse for trekking one of the important characteristics I look for is a quiet calm temperment..
I have a training program I use over the course of a year or so to build the horses fitness / muscle tone, and confidence combined with quietly teaching the horse to remain calm in situations where they may fear for their safety..
We need this later requirement as in time I will be asking our horses to be able to traverse fully loaded, narrow mountain pack tracks such as in this side photo..
In our mountain country there are still hundreds of pack tracks such as in this side photo in existence, some converted to walking track some not, I love researching out and where possible following these again on treks. St James and Molesworth Stations were just two examples containing hundreds of pack tracks used in daily station life for access.
I train all my horses to be able to cope with anything and everything as sometimes on these trails it may be raining cats and dogs and or blowing a gale.or we may be on a narrow ridge with strong winds or crossing a deep river with a good current etc, they learn to trust in me to keep them safe and to calmly get on with the job and remain sure footed.
When starting a new horse under the packsaddle I will only lighty load him initially as he needs time to learn to cope with the trail conditions, and also a pannier sticking out either side of him which will catch on trees and rock outcrops etc, sometimes putting him off balance.
Most horses that are packed quickly learn to judge the gap required so the panniers don't hit things as most don't like the feeling of being pushed sideways..
Obviously one cannot just take a green trail horse and expect him to be able to traverse these narrow pack tracks.. we start with much milder trails for the first years training up in the hills behind us, teaching the young horse to be able to walk along hill sides on sheep tracks, firstly on easy country then gradually a bit steeper hill sides so the horse knows he has" an out" so to speak if he slips etc.. doing this in wet conditions next the horse learns to watch each step he takes, putting his head down to see where he is going..
The green horse soon learns to follow me riding an experienced horse, and in that gains confidence in seeing that the experienced horse is not at all bothered with any terrain encountered..
Both the pack and riding horses are trained in this easy environment initially, and when fairly competent we slowly introduce a pack saddle with perhaps a horse cover rolled up in each side pannier and reintroduce these trails, so all the time they are learning to remain calm and learning to become sure footed...
Gradually we increase the steepness of the hill trails, and encourage each horse ridden or packed to think for themselves out here.. Riding them I start to no steer them and let them pick their own tracks.... this is important to ask them to work it out themselves as in time under packsaddle and load they will be trekking loose and do use this training to teach them to think and to cope on their own..
If you watch me out on trails , I often let the horse walk along making his own decisions where he wants to walk... and don't correct him as long as we are heading in roughly the right direction.. horses are smart thinking animals and they will chose the easiest path along the trail without a lot of guidance from us.. again letting him think for himself...
To my mind, riders who micro manage the reins on the pack trails run a risk of developing a horse to become reliant on the riders decisions, thus teaching the horse to become insecure... the horse comes to places its afraid of or unsure, coupled with an inexperienced rider subconsciously pulling the horses head up for correct conformation, when infact it should have its head near the ground to be able to see where to place its feet, can potentially risk a train wreak...its all about learning ...
I guess this has a similar correlation to human teenagers.... it takes time and repetition to show the youngsters how to cope with life on a daily basis, allowing them to make mistakes and in doing so learning from these mistakes.. young horses are the same. they get scared at times, and look to us for reassurance ...A good working horse that has sound knowledge and experience takes a while to learn these things..... I like to teach my horses slowly over a couple of years, and often as a result becoming sound and safe.... a valuable commodity...!
These horses become very smart and competent in only a short while..
The pack track typically, a mountainside one side, a narrow track, and if one looks over the side.. its often a long way down..
Suprisingly, very few horses are lost over the side, they are smart careful animals..
When I look at purchasing a new horse for trekking one of the important characteristics I look for is a quiet calm temperment..
I have a training program I use over the course of a year or so to build the horses fitness / muscle tone, and confidence combined with quietly teaching the horse to remain calm in situations where they may fear for their safety..
We need this later requirement as in time I will be asking our horses to be able to traverse fully loaded, narrow mountain pack tracks such as in this side photo..
In our mountain country there are still hundreds of pack tracks such as in this side photo in existence, some converted to walking track some not, I love researching out and where possible following these again on treks. St James and Molesworth Stations were just two examples containing hundreds of pack tracks used in daily station life for access.
I train all my horses to be able to cope with anything and everything as sometimes on these trails it may be raining cats and dogs and or blowing a gale.or we may be on a narrow ridge with strong winds or crossing a deep river with a good current etc, they learn to trust in me to keep them safe and to calmly get on with the job and remain sure footed.
When starting a new horse under the packsaddle I will only lighty load him initially as he needs time to learn to cope with the trail conditions, and also a pannier sticking out either side of him which will catch on trees and rock outcrops etc, sometimes putting him off balance.
Most horses that are packed quickly learn to judge the gap required so the panniers don't hit things as most don't like the feeling of being pushed sideways..
Obviously one cannot just take a green trail horse and expect him to be able to traverse these narrow pack tracks.. we start with much milder trails for the first years training up in the hills behind us, teaching the young horse to be able to walk along hill sides on sheep tracks, firstly on easy country then gradually a bit steeper hill sides so the horse knows he has" an out" so to speak if he slips etc.. doing this in wet conditions next the horse learns to watch each step he takes, putting his head down to see where he is going..
The green horse soon learns to follow me riding an experienced horse, and in that gains confidence in seeing that the experienced horse is not at all bothered with any terrain encountered..
Both the pack and riding horses are trained in this easy environment initially, and when fairly competent we slowly introduce a pack saddle with perhaps a horse cover rolled up in each side pannier and reintroduce these trails, so all the time they are learning to remain calm and learning to become sure footed...
Gradually we increase the steepness of the hill trails, and encourage each horse ridden or packed to think for themselves out here.. Riding them I start to no steer them and let them pick their own tracks.... this is important to ask them to work it out themselves as in time under packsaddle and load they will be trekking loose and do use this training to teach them to think and to cope on their own..
If you watch me out on trails , I often let the horse walk along making his own decisions where he wants to walk... and don't correct him as long as we are heading in roughly the right direction.. horses are smart thinking animals and they will chose the easiest path along the trail without a lot of guidance from us.. again letting him think for himself...
To my mind, riders who micro manage the reins on the pack trails run a risk of developing a horse to become reliant on the riders decisions, thus teaching the horse to become insecure... the horse comes to places its afraid of or unsure, coupled with an inexperienced rider subconsciously pulling the horses head up for correct conformation, when infact it should have its head near the ground to be able to see where to place its feet, can potentially risk a train wreak...its all about learning ...
I guess this has a similar correlation to human teenagers.... it takes time and repetition to show the youngsters how to cope with life on a daily basis, allowing them to make mistakes and in doing so learning from these mistakes.. young horses are the same. they get scared at times, and look to us for reassurance ...A good working horse that has sound knowledge and experience takes a while to learn these things..... I like to teach my horses slowly over a couple of years, and often as a result becoming sound and safe.... a valuable commodity...!
These horses become very smart and competent in only a short while..
Bush Stream Horse Pack track..... Mesopotamia
Pic...Looking back down Bush Stream towards Mesopotamia Station buildings .
I love riding out over these pack tracks.. This one was a part of my early life working on this station...
The steep zig zag just out of sight in the bottom right of the above photo was where the pack horse fell off the track and crashed down the side, after he decided he didnt want to go any further and tried to turn himself around on the narrow up hill pack track as described in the stories section....
Across the river you can see part of the original horse pack track used to get around that little gorge on the left, at the bottom of the track this end, it crosses the Bush Stream and to the bottom right in this pic starts the steep zig zag from the river up to where the bottom walkers are on the ridge ..
The Pack track follows this ridge up, then sidles up past where this top tramper is and heads a bit further up onto a terrace where the Crooked Spur hut is..
This crooked Spur hut was the first mustering beat hut when sheep roamed these hills, and all the sheep where mustered up this valley over 5 to 7 days depending on weather then pushed up over the Bullock Bow saddle at 5500 ft and around to the lower country for winter..
The horse pack track here is still ridable and its a great trek to start from Mesopotamia, head up this Bush Stream to the Crooked Spur Hut first day, then on up and over a saddle behind the hut, then down thru Sweeps and Packhorse streams and along to the Stone Hut for an easy second day, then perhaps trekking on up stream to the Royal Hut, or out over the Bullock Bow to the Felt Hut, then a further 4 ish hours back around to the station again..
Permission is needed for the latter part and to use the Felt hut can be obtained from Malcolm or Sue Prouting at Mesopotamia..
I love riding out over these pack tracks.. This one was a part of my early life working on this station...
The steep zig zag just out of sight in the bottom right of the above photo was where the pack horse fell off the track and crashed down the side, after he decided he didnt want to go any further and tried to turn himself around on the narrow up hill pack track as described in the stories section....
Across the river you can see part of the original horse pack track used to get around that little gorge on the left, at the bottom of the track this end, it crosses the Bush Stream and to the bottom right in this pic starts the steep zig zag from the river up to where the bottom walkers are on the ridge ..
The Pack track follows this ridge up, then sidles up past where this top tramper is and heads a bit further up onto a terrace where the Crooked Spur hut is..
This crooked Spur hut was the first mustering beat hut when sheep roamed these hills, and all the sheep where mustered up this valley over 5 to 7 days depending on weather then pushed up over the Bullock Bow saddle at 5500 ft and around to the lower country for winter..
The horse pack track here is still ridable and its a great trek to start from Mesopotamia, head up this Bush Stream to the Crooked Spur Hut first day, then on up and over a saddle behind the hut, then down thru Sweeps and Packhorse streams and along to the Stone Hut for an easy second day, then perhaps trekking on up stream to the Royal Hut, or out over the Bullock Bow to the Felt Hut, then a further 4 ish hours back around to the station again..
Permission is needed for the latter part and to use the Felt hut can be obtained from Malcolm or Sue Prouting at Mesopotamia..
Your life is everyday......!
A keen Photographer.......(when he thinks no ones looking........!.)
A keen photographer having some 8000 images on file of the South Island landscapes..A lifetime to date of our NZ journeys......!
I do have quality cameras and a large choice of lens and filters but am a bit reluctant to take it out on the horse treks, electing instead to use my standard camera for recording the trail rides..
Cameras include two Sony A700 body cameras, many lens and filters, and on trail rides I use a compact Sony RX100 ..20 mp... this is ideal as it sits in my shirt pocket and can be operated in one hand, as many of you horse riding folks will know, horses and photo taking dont combine well..lol
All images on trails are shot in Raw format, and once home again these are edited in Photoshop, compressed and converted to Jpeg format for easy website loading... I also post photos in low resolution to deture folks who wish to copy my work...
I do have quality cameras and a large choice of lens and filters but am a bit reluctant to take it out on the horse treks, electing instead to use my standard camera for recording the trail rides..
Cameras include two Sony A700 body cameras, many lens and filters, and on trail rides I use a compact Sony RX100 ..20 mp... this is ideal as it sits in my shirt pocket and can be operated in one hand, as many of you horse riding folks will know, horses and photo taking dont combine well..lol
All images on trails are shot in Raw format, and once home again these are edited in Photoshop, compressed and converted to Jpeg format for easy website loading... I also post photos in low resolution to deture folks who wish to copy my work...
Some of the more unusual pack loads..............
Imagine this American Packy trying to negotiate a tight corner with his boat load........(smilies)