bugging out on horse back?

[WVHILLS]

i had seen a couple of threads about people following railroad tracks, or using a off road dirtbike to bug out. just wondering if anyone gave consideration to using a horse, they get better gas mileage and if worse comes to worse you can eat em...
also i was wondering if you were put into a survival situation for an extended amount of time, say 4 to 6 months how would you store vegtables if you didn't have access to canning materials. My grandmother told me that she can remember her father burying cabbage and potatoes in holes about three feet deep into a hillside. im afraid that these skills, such as canning, drying fruits, cultivation and living off the land are going to be lost to my generation

 

[Codger_64]

Most breeds of horses are high maintenance. Mules do better on poor forage. Both are hard to hide from sight and sound, and leave a pretty good trail to follow if that is a part of the equation.

There are many, many books of putting up vegetables. My favorites all aroung are the Foxfire books. They have old-timey ways to preserve meats, fish, fowl, grains and vegetables, as well as a lot of woodlore and plain dirt ways people survived a century or more ago in the Appalachians.

Codger

 

[siguy]

perhaps a decent mountain bike would be better than a horse if you are going to be in relatively clear areas, or if you are following a trail or train track.

 

[Horned Toad]

Codger hit the nail on the head

1 horse takes at least 20 pounds of food a day and a minimum of 20 gallons of water. A shod hose makes a lot of noise and laves tracks that are very easy to follow. Unshod makes a lot less noise but still easy to follow. A god mule as a pack animal might work depending on location. A good mule can carry over 300 pounds and runs on half the food of a horse or less. But packing a mule takes lots of practice, it would be a good way to carry extra stuff that could improve your chance of survival, but I would still keep important stuff on me. You load up your mule and he get shot or injured and their goes your supplies.

 

[Dijos]

horned toad and Codger hit the nail on the head. if you had to ride, your best choice (in terms of maintenence) would be a mule. They are tricky creatures, though, and training and maintenence of a mule is different than a horse, as mules are much smarter, and somewhat less domesticated, the combination of which makes training a mule difficult. Mule drivers and packers have a very specific skill set, and would be the best people to learn from. Unless you love riding, and are an experienced horseman, it isn't really an option. Just wanted to add that Mustangs are also a great alternative to mules; hearty, low maintenence (in comparison to a lot of breeds), and pretty quick on the uptake. However, real mustangs are still wild, so good luck getting one (the BLM has them) and training one to ride in any sort of timely fashion. I have had that exact train of thought, and I own and love horses, but even I'd probably pick a bicycle.

 

[Horned Toad]

horned toad and Codger hit the nail on the head. if you had to ride, your best choice (in terms of maintenence) would be a mule. They are tricky creatures, though, and training and maintenence of a mule is different than a horse, as mules are much smarter, and somewhat less domesticated, the combination of which makes training a mule difficult. Mule drivers and packers have a very specific skill set, and would be the best people to learn from. Unless you love riding, and are an experienced horseman, it isn't really an option. Just wanted to add that Mustangs are also a great alternative to mules; hearty, low maintenence (in comparison to a lot of breeds), and pretty quick on the uptake. However, real mustangs are still wild, so good luck getting one (the BLM has them) and training one to ride in any sort of timely fashion. I have had that exact train of thought, and I own and love horses, but even I'd probably pick a bicycle.

I will follow up on this by saying mules are very very smart. The average person with no horse experience would have about a 0% chance of getting one to do anything; their sense of self preservation is very high. And while most are not malicious they would cripple you real quick if they felt threatened.

On mustangs, they are tough, but everything I have seen and heard says they are hard to train and unlike most domesticated horses without consistency they will revert back to the wild state and are unusable.

I also have horses and my first choice would be to stay put in a disturbance or disaster, my second choice would be to trailer my best horses to a remote location and move out from there. Third would be to move out on horse back and try to make it with the horses to our little get away spot.

 

[2dogs]

In the late 80s before I was married I thought about bugging out and doing so on my horse. At the time I weighed about 180-185 lbs and my saddle, empty saddle bags, and the rest of my tack added another 45 lbs. The problem is, horses don't work long carrying much weight. I'm 5'9" with short legs and I'm on and off my horse working cattle so I can't use too tall of a horse. As you can guess I ride a quarter horses, strong, smart, and versatile. None the less no horse can bear the weight of a bug out kit and a rider. So at least you will need a pack horse along with a saddle horse and also a pack saddle etc and the skills to pack.

In addition the horse needs food just like we do. Maximum performance demands your be grained every day. Or course forage is a must and that means grass lands. And if the snow is deep your horse will starve to death. A horse has to stay on easy terrain, it can't rope down a cliff with you.

Mules, mustangs, or horses it doesn't matter much. The main thing is, what are you going to eat when you reach your destination? I would suggest you plan a bug out trip carrying what you own right now. I don't know what the weather and feed are like in WV but out here things are getting cold and I'd guess it is alot colder where you are. Figure out what you will bug out from and grab your gear and go. Yes you will have to take a day or two off work and of course notify others of your plans in case something goes wrong, but the key is to actually get outside and live there for a few days. As I have written before I am not a fan of BOBs. I believe more in a Bug In Bag, something to sustain you for several days where you live now. The kit should be portable and contain enough to help your loved ones. To me the idea of taking off and living the life of a mountain man carrying everything you own on your back is fantasy. Yes it can be done for a week or two without much difficulty but beyond that time with no resupply I think most everyone will be heading back to town.

If you choose a horse to move from one location to another, that is from your town to another where loved ones are then that could work. Living alone horseback is a fantasy.

 

[CrowValleyForge]

Sure are some opinions here!

There are as many reasons that someone may need to bug-out as there are ways to do it.

Anyone here give it a think why most of the old west's outlaws chose horses?

Or a deeper thought why the chasers needed horses to catch chase'es on horses?

Never been a major battle decided from the use of mules, but there sure may have been quicker wars for there use behind the lines. The biggest problem with mules is the dam, or should that be damb? If someone has a good mare, there is a chance that there going to breed for a better horse, but if they have a cull, there more inclined to breed for a mule, 80% of the temperament comes from the mare.

There are some that would say it wouldent matter as much what was under your saddle as much as what above it, if a real life -or-death reason became apparent!

Horse or mules can make it just fine picketed or staked out in good graze for a few hours a day, stopping to knibble from time to time will keep there bellies happy also.

Perhaps the finest example of the Cadillac of bug-out rides would be the Appaloosa, Chief Joseph proved this by leading the US Cavalry on one of the finest bug-outs ever! The Cavalry hated the Appaloosa so much , that when they did catch up to them, they shot all they could.

Horses can pack a fifth of there waight, mules closer to a forth, burros will surprise the hell out of you what they can carry.
A lot of early fur trappers sure did like to lead there burros , but any of the old accounts will still show the mount of choice to be a horse

For the money, a good solid grade horse with good feet and a lot of heart. Mules, I would have no issues with, but would not rule out burros.

The more time you spend with any , would be time well spent!

 

[bigbcustom]

I had a Norwegian Elkhound that could pack about 1/3 her weight comfortably all day. She ate just about anything edible, and could usually keep herself fed quite well in the woods (she did this on several occassions catching mice, the occassional squirrel, and chipmunks. She ate pine nuts, various wild plants (don't ask me how she knew which ones were good), grass, and she really liked bear scat). She has since passed, and my current Elkhound, while a loving and wonderful pet, can't hardly pack anything, and can't feed herself in the woods at all. I had always thought that three or four good elkhounds in a pack string might be pretty good. I might be smoking crack lol, but it was a thought.

 

[yacoub]

Anyone here give it a think why most of the old west's outlaws chose horses?

Or a deeper thought why the chasers needed horses to catch chase'es on horses?

They didn't have SUVs back then?


Though the title of this thread made me think, "now THAT'S buggin' out in style!"

 

[Horned Toad]

There are as many reasons that someone may need to bug-out as there are ways to do it.

Anyone here give it a think why most of the old west's outlaws chose horses?

Or a deeper thought why the chasers needed horses to catch chase'es on horses?

As stated it was the fastest means of the day, also back then horses were in way better shape than the average horse today, so could go much farther. Not saying today’s horse could not be capable but when today’s owner has a car they don’t ride a 40 mile round trip to town in back in a day.

The other main differences that I see is that in the past a horse was a tool like today’s car was, you checked the tires and gave it gas, but if broke down or keeled over, you just got another one. Today’s horses are pets; I doubt most owners would run one to death on purpose.

Once again horses are capable of going in very rough terrain if they are used to it. I currently have an Appy, but she came from back east and had hardly ever been out of an area. It was over a year before she really got good at going in rough terrain here. A flat land long distance runner its going to start climbing rocks over night same with a horse.

http://www.havesaddlewilltravel.com/

This guy has some interesting stuff and has been preaching the ultra light version of horse camping.

 

[2dogs]

I occasionally use our goat to pull things using a dog harness. If you live near Brokeback Mountain maybe you could use sheep.