[pct-l] horses on the trail

[shon mcganty]

well said, and to the point without emotion.  I like your sign off "respectfully Justin" since there seams to be so much hostility with these posts.




________________________________
From: Justin West <cjustinwest at gmail.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 11:08 AM
Subject: [pct-l] horses on the trail

I believe there are some key points being lost in this shouting match
about horses on the trail:

1) Large single toed animals don't readily belong in steep rocky
mountains.  While not an expert in equine evolution I believe the most
recent ancestors to our modern horse evolved in grasslands, and steppe.  Do
you see any wild single toe animals in these mountains?  The size and
strength of our modern horses are a systemic example of our SUV thinking in
this country that bigger is universally better.  Over sized single toe
animals DO cause more damage per footstep than humans.  Everyone on the
trail can see that plainly. (I mention this because the most horse use I
saw on the PCT was in the high country)

2) that being said, we DO employ their strength to maintain the trails.
This is actually probably not necessary, and with some ingenuity we could
replace these giant awkward animals with more compact reliable races,
donkeys etc.

3) as for recreational horse use, i am not inherently against it (I am well
aware that riders are not going to switch over to riding donkeys;).  I
respect that it has its place however...

4) Having walked through a disturbing amount of horse shit this summer on
the PCT I am of the firm belief that just like humans, and dogs, horses
don't Need to be shitting on the trail.  This is an artifact of a bygone
era when our populations and impact were much lighter than they are now.
(And an era when most everyone traveled by horse in the mountains)

It would be a remedial task in design to come up with a manure sack
attached to the back of the animal, just like exists on urban work horses.
This  could be dumped periodically by the rider a certain distance off
trail (just like hikers are required to dump a certain distance off
trail).  The issues of manure on the trail is not an argument as to whether
or not horses should be allowed on the trail but rather what
responsibilities of care the owners should have towards their animals and
towards those of us who are walking these trails.  No one likes a neighbor
who allows their dog to shit on your lawn.  This issue of horse manure on
the trail really is as simple as that.

This lack of critical thought in arguing over who the trail was originally
built for etc etc only distracts from the simple truth that it is a multi
use trail and that the issues re horses on the trail are all simple
tractable issues that could be resolved with very little effort if people
just put a little care in how they do things.

respectfully,

justin
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