[pct-l] Bikes and Horses

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Fred,

Horses, being primarily prey-animals, become alarmed when anything strange
approaches them quickly; and their reaction is usually to attempt to flee.
 They are also quite variable in their degree of attention and their
reaction.  I’ve had horses that one day will continue to walk quietly along
a gravel road while a logging truck rounds a corner and passes close by
with its Jake-Brake popping loudly, while on other days the same animal
will turn into a rodeo act when a leaf blows across the trail 30 yards away

 A Portland Police Bureau mounted officer
http://www.portlandonline.com/police/index.cfm?a=250328&c=29791 once told
me that in crowd control situations people whizzing around on bikes were
more likely to spook his mount than members of a mob on foot.

The typical advice to hikers is to yield to horse traffic by getting off
the trail a short way and staying quiet.  Preferably, people hiking in a
group should step off the same side of the trail to avoid the animals
having to walk between “threats”.  I don’t expect most aggressive bikers
would want to even stop for horse traffic, let alone drag their bikes off
the trail.

Most serious trail riders have docile and well-trained mounts, and they
know what to expect and how to react; but other riders are on trips on
rented horses or on guided-tour rides, meaning they probably aren’t fully
capable and knowledgeable.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/