[pct-l] Pack animals on PCT

[goforth at cnw.com (Joanne Lennox)]

What Brian is saying is very accurate.  Having done both the PCT and the 
Continental Divide with a single horse (packing and riding), having also 
thruhiked the PCT, I recommend you just hike.

a horse, or mule or donkey require a lot of work and training and can be 
very dangerous. you have to care for the animal all year long, not just on 
the trail.  A single animal on the trail will require at a minimum of 20 
pounds of dry food a day, which the animal will have to carry for the most 
part - guess what?  That does not leave any room for your gear.

Good trail animals are rarely sold. A good animal for somebody else is 
likely to be a really lousy dangerous animal for you because you have not a 
clue as to what you are teaching it to do ( let a horse step into your space 
a moment, and the next moment he thinks this guy does not care what I do, 
I'll do what ever I want.  A horse that thinks it is in charge, is a horse 
that you can not control or stop).  Training is not a computer chip that you 
implant in the brain; it is communication that is happening every moment, 
and I would bet that any horse is better at controlling you right now than 
you are at controlling him.

Let me see, you will need a barn, 2 tons of hay per animal, pasture, 
training places, round pen, saddles, packs, experienced persons to teach 
you, horse trailer, truck to haul trailer, farrier,  veterinarian to certify 
the health to cross state lines, brand inspector to certifiy the animal is 
real and yours.

How are you going to know if an animal can pack the PCT with you?.  Because 
some guy tells you it can??  Do you know what a horsetrader is??  You will 
be a sucker for anybody out there, the ones looking to make money ,and the 
ones with lots of ego ,and the ones who want to give their animals away to a 
"good home" or   to somebody that will train and use them(after they have 
been a pasture pet, and spoilt by kids or owners). Good luck with that!!!

Goforth

I wonder if this is just not a flame