SEEING THE WORLD BETWEEN TWO EARS: Exploring Trails on Horseback in the Western U.S. By Gillian Larson
When I set off on my first long-distance horseback adventure in 2014, riding from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, I thought it was a one-time fling before settling down to “real life” and a master’s degree program in biology. Little did I know that spending months at a time in the backcountry with my horses would become my life’s focus, as I viewed the world from a whole new perspective and later got to share what I had learned with others. I didn’t have a clue what I was about to encounter on that first trip— the trail obstacles like downed trees or high-elevation snowpack, the difficulty of providing sufficient food and water for my horses, the importance of the right equipment for them as well as myself.
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I scoured hiker blogs for information about lightweight backpacking and tried several saddle pads before combining two of them to make my own custom version. I had a crash course (almost literally) in horse packing, which I had only read about in a manual called “When Mules Wear Diamonds” before beginning my first multi-overnight section of the PCT with two horses. It wasn’t until a thousand miles later that I met a forest service packer who showed me how to tie an Arizona box hitch for my panniers, which I have used ever since. It was a steep learning curve, but one with rich rewards in terms of the natural beauty of the wilderness and the deep bond I nurtured with my equine teammates.