[pct-l] Bikes & horses

[CHUCK CHELIN]

>
> Good morning, Stephanie,
>
> Like people, horses vary greatly in temperament.  Some individuals are
> naturally docile and (semi) predictable while others are volatile and
> unpredictable.  Different breeds can vary in similar ways, for example
> the typical "hot-blooded" breeds i.e. Arabians and Thoroughbreds, are much
> more volatile than the "cold-blooded" working and draft breeds.
>
> One of the largest distinctions is in gender:  The most difficult to
> handle are stallions, but almost no-one rides a stallion -- anywhere.  They
> are usually only kept for breeding.  Next in line are mares.  They are
> usually quite manageable, and are often ridden, but when they periodically
> come into estrus – read equine PMS – they can become a really unpredictable
> handful.
>
> The most predictable are geldings which are stallions that have been
> relieved of all their aspirations at a young age.  Geldings are the most
> commonly ridden on trails, and they are the only horses that are used by
> Portland Police Bureau mounted officers.  Even then they receive
> extensive basic training plus close supervision and correction as they
> routinely patrol the streets.
>
> Being spooky can’t entirely be trained out of them.  Evolution matters,
> and for most of the eons horses, and their progenitors, managed to stay
> alive as prey-animals by being spooky.  It’s just hard-wired into their
> little brains.
>
> To generalize I’ll paraphrase a line from a John Wayne movie:  “A horse
> is nothing but a thousand pounds of trouble in a leather sack.”
>
> Steel-Eye
>
> -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
>
>