Trusting our Mountain Horses - The Mountain Elevator
Most people would probably be careful and cautious when dealing with horses especially if they had no previous contact with these large animals. At the ranch I had my first real contact with horses and even though these horses here are particularly calm, stable and reliable I was still very cautious every time I got close to them. It didn’t take long for me to get more and more confident and at some point I not only put the halter on a horse but also sidelined them. To do this you have to squat down and tie a rope around one of their front legs and one of their hind legs to prevent them from jumping the fence while grazing in the pasture.
When I got the chance to go on a pack trip to Brett camp my trust in the horses was challenged again. We didn’t have enough horses at the ranch, which is why Kayleigh, Lea and I had to hike up to get horses that were grazing freely on the Range. It was very hot and I hadn’t hiked for a while. I was offered the opportunity to use the horse’s tail as a hiking aid or “mountain elevator” as they call it here. Even though grabbing the tail and letting the horse pull you up seems simple enough I did not dare to be behind a horse so closely and let it pull not only me but also the riders weight up that mountain.
It took me quite a while to realize that it would probably be for the better if I got over my fear and used the mountain elevator as an aid, as it was only the first day and it would have made no sense to unnecessarily exhaust myself on the first day. The chances of me over crossing my limits were greater than the chances of getting kicked especially because the horses wouldn’t even be able to kick someone properly while hiking up the mountain.
When I saw that Lea and Kayleigh were not afraid of using the mountain elevator as an asset and the heat getting to me more every step I took I knew it was time to overcome my fear.
Apache one of our „mountain ponies“ is fortunately a very small horse compared to almost every other horse and he especially has a very long tail. I grabbed onto his tail and he helped me up the mountain to camp without complaining once or making me feel like I had to be scared. In return I chased the horseflies away from him as he could no longer use his tail to do so. He showed me that even though it is clever to maintain a certain degree of caution it shouldn’t be so great that you‘re no longer able to see and approach the situation more rationally.
Emely M. Germany
