# What is the command to make a horse get down?



## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

Often camels get down from a full-standing position to make it easier to mount the animal or load heavy gear. 

What is this position called?

Can horses, burros and mules be trained to do the same?

It might be much easier to load a 200-pound muley buck onto the back of a horse if the pack animal is gotten as low to the ground as possible. 

Unless you are an Olympic bodybuilder, you can't just sling that big deer carcass over the back of your pack animal while at a full standing position. If the horse could be made to get down low, I would think one could simply drag the carcass over the horse's back then secure the load properly. It reminds me of cowboy films where the bounty hunter throws the dead bodies of wanted outlaws over the backs of horse in his string then parades them into town.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

jonbailey said:


> It might be much easier to load a 200-pound muley buck onto the back of a horse if the pack animal is gotten as low to the ground as possible.


It's also a lot easier to give the horse joint arthritis, muscle sprains and general soft tissue injuries if you ask it to do something like that. Horses aren't designed to weightlift loads off the ground, even if you can "make" them do it. :evil:

Just like in human beings, putting the skeleton under strain with the joints bent to that extent is asking for busted cartilage and arthritis. Unlike camels, horses are also prone to quick movements if they take a fright, and this could lead to serious injury under load in that position.




> Unless you are an Olympic bodybuilder, you can't just sling that big deer carcass over the back of your pack animal while at a full standing position.


But you expect the horse to be an Olympic bodybuilder on your behalf???

You might be better off with a 4-wheeler.




> If the horse *could be made to* get down low, I would think one could simply drag the carcass over the horse's back then secure the load properly. It reminds me of cowboy films where the bounty hunter throws the dead bodies of wanted outlaws over the backs of horse in his string then parades them into town.


Yes, let's all take our cues on the humane treatment of horses from what we see on cowboy films. :twisted: That wording of yours I've highlighted above, and the idea that you can "command" a horse, deserves a reminder that horses are sentient beings and don't owe you anything - and that if we're going to work with horses, we owe them respect.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

Camels, unlike horses, use their hind legs first when getting up and laying down. Horses use their front legs first and then the hinds. I guess that's why my horses ignore me when I point at them and say "sit!'.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Yes, we should all watch movies to learn how best to interact with horses ——- not.

Making it easier on yourself to sling a carcass up on the horse is making things very hard on the horse.

Build a travois to carry whatever you killed. It’s a lot easier for the horse to pull it.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

This is the sort of thing @walkinthewalk is referring to. And this is a Spaghetti Western, so it's all tongue-in-cheek.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

HombresArablegacy said:


> Camels, unlike horses, use their hind legs first when getting up and laying down. Horses use their front legs first and then the hinds. I guess that's why my horses ignore me when I point at them and say "sit!'.
> https://youtu.be/7x-FJDRiS2Y



I guess it's called the LAYDOWN position. The trick is to have the animal be still as the deer (perhaps a doe up to 125 pounds) is loaded over her pack saddle.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

We are all familiar with what you allude to.

If you start lifting weights, it will not only get you in great condition for hunting (it’s not a sport for the inactive person, it will give you the strength to just throw that carcass right up on the horse:racing:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Teaching your horse to lay down as a trick is completely different from teaching it to lay down so you can heave a 200 lb dead animal over them. Just think about that for a minute... horses are a prey animal. You want to heave a bloody carcass on them as they are in a prone (and therefore completely vulnerable) position. To the rest of us horse people, it sounds like you want to treat a horse like a machine, not the amazingly sensitive and intuitive animal they are. 

Of course horses can be trained to carry dead animals around, but not lift them off the ground. When horses pack around carcasses, they are cut into smaller pieces so they can be lifted and placed onto their backs in special packs so you only have to lift maybe 50 lbs at a time and the load can be evenly distributed. 

I'd suggest watching less Westerns and signing up for some riding lessons so you can learn a little about how horses actually behave in real life. Or find a rescue, volunteer to work with horses in exchange for lessons... fantasizing about doing something is fun, but if you really want to do this, start taking more realistic steps to make it happen.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

jonbailey said:


> I guess it's called the LAYDOWN position. The trick is to have the animal be still as the deer (perhaps a doe up to 125 pounds) is loaded over her pack saddle.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hho4lQBMQb0


Yes, we all know how trick training works, but it's not meant to be abused to make horses lift heavy loads off the ground for you - for reasons previously explained by several people, but apparently in vain. :evil:

It's not whether something _could_ be done, but whether it _should_ be done. It's about having ethics.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

I figured if man were as strong as a horse and as enduring physically as a horse he would have no practical use for them. I think of a horse as a possible TOOL but also as a possible hunting buddy. A beast of burden. Some armies for a few thousand years have regarded them as WEAPONS of WAR even.


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## lb27312 (Aug 25, 2018)

I'm kinda confused too... I've seen horses that have been taught to lay down like above and allow a person on and then stand up. Either for therapeutic reasons, rodeo tricks and whatever... maybe there's a difference in live weight vs dead weight.... just curious.

Camels can carry a lot more than a persons weight...


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...season-45-years-spent-Scottish-Highlands.html

Culled: A successful hunter hauls his trophy on horseback. If left unchecked, deer populations could soar and impact the food supply and habitat.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Yes, horses can carry an elk or deer. This isn't the best way to do it - ideally, the animal is quartered so the weight can be more evenly distributed. Keep in mind that horses should not carry more than 20% of their weight. So a 1000 lb horse shouldn't carry more than 200 lbs. Dead weight is much harder to carry than a rider. 

No one is saying it can't be done. I AM however, suggesting you start taking riding lessons or just hunt using machines, which is what most hunters do. But if you are insisting on using horses, learn to ride first.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

jonbailey said:


> I figured if man were as strong as a horse and as enduring physically as a horse he would have no practical use for them. I think of a horse as a possible TOOL but also as a possible hunting buddy. A beast of burden. Some armies for a few thousand years have regarded them as WEAPONS of WAR even.


Yes, we are also well aware of the history of horses. Have you noticed they're not used in battle anymore? There's a reason for that.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

jonbailey said:


> I figured if man were as strong as a horse and as enduring physically as a horse he would have no practical use for them. I think of a horse as a possible TOOL but also as a possible hunting buddy. A beast of burden. Some armies for a few thousand years have regarded them as WEAPONS of WAR even.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vTNYAfzUNA



You are of course entitled to your own opinion. My opinion is that I pray for any horse that has the misfortune to be owned by anyone who considers them a tool for the human to use, instead of seeing the horse as a partner and a valuable animal. 


Since you love to post all these threads, seeming to be based on watching movies of the wild west, how about getting some practical, hands-on knowledge of horses? Therapeutic riding centers always need help. You could do some good for those less fortunate than you, and gain some practical knowledge. Some places will even let the volunteers ride for FREE!


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

To strictly answer the question "What is the command to make a horse get down?" 

*There is no such command. *


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Usually, you quarter your kill and pack it out that way on the horse. The trick is if you're keeping the head/rack for a mount. Not all horses are ok with packing the head and antlers of said creature.

You can just field-dress and sling the carcass across a saddle, but then you have to walk down yourself and you risk blood all over your tack. Most people quarter game and use a set of panniers on a pack horse, or the nylon ones that attach to a saddle, then walk and lead the horse. 

I'm a woman, height of 5'5", and I can put a deer across the saddle of a horse by myself. It's not rocket science nor is it especially heavy. If it's an elk, you either get help, drag it out, or figure out how to get it on the horse (pulley it over a tree limb, walk the horse under, lower it works well if your horse is ok with that). 

I have never known anyone who gets a horse to lie down to carry out a kill. Nope.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

A 125-pound doe should be a breeze for a horse. 

How did that Scotch Highlander get that whole big stag, rack and all, on top of his horse? 

Ideally, I'd have a string of three. 

One for me. One for my gear. One for the deer. 

I would certainly take pony-riding lessons first.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

SueC said:


> This is the sort of thing @*walkinthewalk* is referring to. And this is a Spaghetti Western, so it's all tongue-in-cheek.
> 
> https://youtu.be/b_mMMI0Kc7I



OMG. TRINITY.


One of the first western films introduced to me by my hubs when we were first dating....28 years ago! SO absurd... I loved it immediately.

@*Jon* Baily - There is a reason you don't see equids trained to lay down and let people mount them on the regular or pack them with dead weight. Their joints can't handle it. 



I do have a young rodeo friend who has a beloved mare that can and will lay down for her, and get up with her on her back - but that's not dead weight like a quartered elk or moose carcass. She moves WITH her horse. There is no command, no making the mare do this either. Her mare lays down upon being asked nicely, and the two of them are nearly inseparable. Mare is nearly 8, friend is nearly 18... the mare was born to my friend's family and given to friend at birth... they've been together a decade.


You will very occasionally see a special needs/therapy horse or a horse owned by a very senior citizen that will lay down for his or her rider... usually lighter weight riders and again, not dead weight. They are taught to do this upon request, and with very little to no coercion.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

My replies in blue.


jonbailey said:


> A 125-pound doe should be a breeze for a horse. Not if your 200-lb self, plus 50 pounds of saddle is on there, too... you'll need to walk. Plus horses are prey animals. They need to be trained to be comfortable carrying an awkward, bloody, dead load. Try to throw a deer on your regular trail horse, and you're in for a wreck.
> 
> How did that Scotch Highlander get that whole big stag, rack and all, on top of his horse?
> 
> ...


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

That's why wolves are so important to our ecosystem. Since being reintroduced to Yellowstone National park, a decades long study has proven wolves have positively benefitted the entire ecosystem. Elk populations are down, places they used to over graze are growing again. Be a wolf. 

https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem


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## The Equinest (Dec 18, 2019)

Many people I know use horses/mules/donkeys to pack out wild game, but they are all gutted, quartered, and packed. I've never met a person who just slings them on up on a horse's back without dressing them. There's a great deal of professional outiftters where I live, and I've never seen any of them pack anything out without properly field dressing it and quartering it. I personally also would not recommend teaching the horse to lay down and lift in that manner, for the reasons already stated and also because often(here at least) the footing is poor and getting the horse down, and back up could be very dangerous. 

That being said, I know a woman who's by no means an "Olympic Athlete" who dressed, quartered, and packed a bull elk out this year on her 14.2 Morgan mare. It's certainly not impossible.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

In Scotland they do remove full stags on the back of Highland ponies, as can be seen in the photo on the previous page. 

However, these ponies have been bred for hundreds of years to be the sturdy 'Garron' type and stand up to 14.2hh. 

They're introduced to blood and deer skin from foals and are well used to carrying the weight of a 20 stone stag but they are not expected to lie down and then stand with the weight. They carry the animal on specially designed 'deer saddles', which help to strap down and distribute the weight of the animal. Most importantly, they transport it at a slow walk home. 

Deer in Scotland may not have natural enemies but our hunting is controlled by very strict laws regarding hunting and firearms. The photo shows a controlled hunt on a Highland estate and the hunters certainly wouldn't be allowed to do it on horseback and I'm guessing that the deer was very carefully chosen by the Ghillie. 

You really can't compare Deer Stalking with Highland ponies to what happens in the USA or other countries.

@*jonbailey* the Scottish (scotch is a drink) Highlanders lift the stags on and some use rope!


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Around here hunters use 4 wheelers and sleds to haul out there deer. Not horses ,there not a tool there a living feeling animal. Buy a 4 wheeler for your hauling dead animals out of the woods.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

this entire discussion led me to do a bit of quick research on deer, in Scotland. I come to find that there is an overpopulation issue there, and a controversy surrounding that.


I guess they have not discussed re-introducing European wolves? Not in a land where raising sheep is such a long held tradition, I guess. 



Let's just say, I had no idea that there was an issue with TOO many deer in Scotland.


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## The Equinest (Dec 18, 2019)

@rambo99

It's slightly ridiculous to buy a 4-wheeler just for hauling deer out and also much too expensive. Many horses are "working animals" and very well off, just like their competitor counterparts. There's nothing wrong with hauling big game out on horseback(in fact, it's how people make their living up here sometimes!) as long as it's done well and within the animal's limits.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I ride for a guy that takes his polo string to hunting camp and packs deer and elk off the mountain. 

The deer and elk are field dressed and quartered. It's just part of the horses' lives. No biggie.

But to the original question: The horses aren't asked to lay down or in any way lower themselves to help with loading the carcasses.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

4wheelers are used for more then just hauling dead deer. Our trails are full of people riding around on 4 wheelers. 

Hunters around here use there 4 wheelers all year round. Don't require feed or vet care or farrier work. 

Take a horse in the woods ,in firearms deer hunting here likely it will be shot. 

Pretty sure around here horses aren't aloud to be used for deer hunting. 

Like I said chances of horse ,making it out of the woods alive is pretty slim. There was a horse this year shot an killed ,during deer hunting,not to far form where I live.

All the people I know who hunt don't want a horse to take care of .


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

I don't own horses, but I entertain the notion of renting a small string to go hunting if local horse-renting businesses will allow this. 

I would also have to rent the horse trailer and the proper truck to haul it. 

I plan to only own a Tacoma 4-cyl. pickup.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

jonbailey said:


> I don't own horses, but I entertain the notion of renting a small string to go hunting if local horse-renting businesses will allow this.
> 
> I would also have to rent the horse trailer and the proper truck to haul it.
> 
> I plan to only own a Tacoma 4-cyl. pickup.


 On a guided hunt. Trip of a lifetime. The horses will be fit. The guides will get you on game. You'll be hungry, tired, and cold every night, and they'll feed you good.


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## The Equinest (Dec 18, 2019)

@rambo99

The initial cost of buying a 4-wheeler is no small sum, especially one you expect to take hunting. No offense, but I grew up and still live in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and my first horse was an ex-outfitter's pack horse, and given my experience with it a 4-wheeler would never be able to make it into the mountains where a horse can. It's simply not possible. Most hunters are not ranchers or farmers and therefore don't really have a use for a 4-wheeler year round, and even if they are, none of the ranchers or farmers I've met ever use them to retrieve game unless they're hunting in fields. If you're in the mountains, a horse is often the only option.

Also, while there are always idiots around, many people buy orange gear for their horses and make it out just fine. In the backcountry(where you _need_ horses), there's not many people hunting within a small radius anyhow.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

You can RENT a four-wheeler and no one is going to care what you do with it as long as you bring it back in one piece. No one in their right mind is going to rent a string of horses to a guy who has never ridden in his life so he can go hunting in the mountains. Period. 

Anyone who seriously wants to hunt on horseback can accomplish this goal with years of planning, riding lessons, and a substantial amount of money. But one has to take the steps to do it that go significantly beyond asking what command you need to make a horse lay down to let you put a carcass on their back because he's seen it in a movie.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

The poster is from OK and I am sure there are hunters in his state and also just as sure that most use 4-wheelers. I live in NW Il and know many hunters - not a single one uses a horse to pack anything. They all use 4-Wheelers or side by sides. Many states do not have mountains that require packing into and out of - and those that do have reputable companies or outfitters that can take the OP on a trip of a lifetime - guided by knowledgeable hunters/guides/horsemen - the chances of the OP renting a truck and trailer to haul rented horses to a hunting site are pretty rare (IMO) Think of the logistics of it all - 

1. first you have to pick your destination - you can't just show up on a mountain with a gun and horses and expect to be able to hunt there. If it is state owned land you have to get that state's hunting license and a permit to hunt whatever game you hope to hunt.
2. Next once your license and permits are in place you need to find an outfitter willing to rent you a saddle horse and a pack horse or pack horses - any reputable outfitter is going to ask questions about your skill level and experience - not just with hunting - but with packing, camping and equine care in the back country. Then to get this outfitter to agree to let you pick up said horses and trailer them somewhere - really - what are the odds of that?
3. Next you have to find a place close to where you want to hunt - rent the horses and then find a place that will rent a truck and a horse trailer. Again - this is going to be difficult. It is hard to find a place to rent a horse trailer and most do not have a truck to rent with that horse trailer. 

The cost alone for this hunting excursion would be quite prohibitive - and who knows how much renting horses would be but trailer rental alone would run $75-$100 per day and not sure about truck rental.

To the OP - if this is truly a dream of yours I would schedule your first riding lesson today - and then look into the logistics into the other things that need to take place before your trip can happen. There is so much more to packing in and out of the back country - hobbling your horse correctly, or high lines or portable corrals. A horse can and will leave you if given the chance. It may be easier/cheaper to book a backcountry excursion with a guide that supplies horses, food, man power than attempting to rent what you need and try it yourself.

Good Luck!


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

The Equinest said:


> @rambo99
> 
> The initial cost of buying a 4-wheeler is no small sum, especially one you expect to take hunting. No offense, but I grew up and still live in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and my first horse was an ex-outfitter's pack horse, and given my experience with it a 4-wheeler would never be able to make it into the mountains where a horse can. It's simply not possible. Most hunters are not ranchers or farmers and therefore don't really have a use for a 4-wheeler year round, and even if they are, none of the ranchers or farmers I've met ever use them to retrieve game unless they're hunting in fields. If you're in the mountains, a horse is often the only option.
> 
> Also, while there are always idiots around, many people buy orange gear for their horses and make it out just fine. In the backcountry(where you _need_ horses), there's not many people hunting within a small radius anyhow.


Having lived in both areas, hunting in the west/mountain west is FAR different than the midwest. Here in the midwest, you'd be shot the first day out if you dared to take a horse into a wooded area during hunting season. Hunting with/from horses is not allowed anyway, but nobody rides anywhere there are hunters unless you're suicidal--- even if you wear orange. 4-wheelers are common, but not used much for hunting; deer tend to realize you're around and won't come anywhere near you, even if you park it and walk to your deer stand/hunting blind.

Hunting in the west with horses is common, and there's a reason-- horses can get where 4-wheelers can't. Hunters tend to be far more careful, and there are far fewer on small areas than in the midwest, where hunting ground is at a premium because everything else is cropland.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Here in MN you ride a horse into the woods on opening deer hunting. Blaze orange or not, horse would be shot right out from under you. 

Horse wouldn't last 15 minutes in the woods on opening deer hunting. Doesn't matter if horse had blaze orange on it. It's head would get blown off. 

Obviously you don't get it so whatever I'm done. So no need to mention or quote me,I won't respond any more. @The Equinest


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## The Equinest (Dec 18, 2019)

@rambo99

I live in rural MT. The only place we take horses are places we absolutely cannot get an animal out on foot(unless you want to carry each quarter separately or drag a few friends up into the hills), or places where vehicles are not allowed. The OP asked about packing an animal out by horseback - which the only reason in my experience to do so is the reasons I listed above. So taking that into account, buying a 4-wheeler would not help. In the midwest you shouldn't be in the type of terrain where you need a horse anyhow, unless you're really up in the hills. My suggestion was based on what people use horses to pack for out here, and _when_ they use them.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

rambo99 said:


> Here in MN you ride a horse into the woods on opening deer hunting. Blaze orange or not, horse would be shot right out from under you.
> 
> Horse wouldn't last 15 minutes in the woods on opening deer hunting. Doesn't matter if horse had blaze orange on it. It's head would get blown off.
> 
> Obviously you don't get it so whatever I'm done. So no need to mention or quote me,I won't respond any more. @*The Equinest*





that's crazy scary!!! What keeps hunters from killing each other, if they are that trigger happy, and there's that much crossfire?


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

tinyliny said:


> that's crazy scary!!! What keeps hunters from killing each other, if they are that trigger happy, and there's that much crossfire?


Reason I won't go out in woods during deer hunting on horses. Years ago there was a hunter shot by another hunter. So it does happen not recently though. 

Plus using horses for deer hunting isn't allowed here.

Don't know if there's that much cross fire. But hunters tend to shoot anything that is possibly a deer. So safer to just stay out of woods on horseback.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Someone once shot a Chevy Blazer in the woods here. It was brown. Someone was in it and was hit (though it wasn't life-threatening). There may have been alcohol involved. People are idiots. I won't stray off-property during hunting season, even though we wear lots of orange and put bells on the saddles. 

Shooting from a horse's back is not allowed here, but I suppose you could take a horse somewhere, then get off to take your shot. Doesn't seem very efficient, which is probably why no one does it here


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Packing out an elk. 

I love these videos, they just get on and do it! Anything untoward just brings on hilarious laughter.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Wow, where to even begin????

First you don't fling the entire animal over the back of the horse, even if it is just a deer. At the very least you quarter it and put it in saddle panniers so the most you are lifting at one time is less than the weight of a feed sack.

Second unless you are a child or very light woman you don't mount a horse while it is on the ground and then let it stand up. You never ever pack a horse laying down. In fact if your pack horse tries to roll or stumbles and rolls etc. you unpack it, let it stand back up and then re-pack it.

I live in a fairly remote area of Montana and yes I do use my horses to pack out game but only if there is no easier way to do it. This year one of our deer was shot on a super steep ridge up in the mountains. My truck was broke down so I could not get the horses trailered up there so we(_two of us_) ended up quartering it out and packing it out piece by piece. The pieces all together weighed 232lbs. I was wishing my truck wasn't broke really badly by the end of that pack out.

My brother packed out a moose about two years ago now. He called 10 of his friends and they all came and helped and they had a mule as well. They got an entire moose packed out in one trip by dividing it between 10 guys and the mule ended up just walking along unloaded as they ended up not needing it.

We frequently pack elk out with 3 to 4 people and no horses. Horses for packing game is really the last resort. If it is just a short way and it is a deer, just rope the horns or neck of the deer, daly on your saddle horn and drag it to the truck. I knew a guy who skidded out a whole elk like this but his horse was an absolute tank. I think it was some sort of draft cross. His neighbor took a picture of him doing it and we made a meme out of it. I might still have the picture, I will go see.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Yep, I still have it.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

tinyliny said:


> that's crazy scary!!! What keeps hunters from killing each other, if they are that trigger happy, and there's that much crossfire?


Nothing. Happens all the time, plus people are shot when bullets travel a mile and go through their living room window...

One family in the next town over lost a toddler several years ago-- hunters in a nearby grove shot at a deer and didn't realize/care/notice that there was a farm a few hundred yards beyond it if they missed. The little boy was playing in his yard and was hit.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

Different countries, different methods. 

Here, the traditional method is to lift the entire animal, tail first, over the saddle, before the animal is balanced and the belts tightened. I'm guessing that most are gralloched first.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

If you watch that whole video though they are only doing it that way to get it to the bottom of the hill and then they are putting it in an 8 wheeled ATV. You wouldn't want to go much further than they did without having it quartered and put in panniers or saddle panniers. Having a shifting, poorly secured load like that is just asking for a wreck. I can see why they did it though but I wouldn't recommend trying that without at least two people present and I definitely wouldn't recommend trying to go very far, and you need to have a really calm, steady, horse like the one in the video.


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

SilverMaple said:


> Nothing. Happens all the time, plus people are shot when bullets travel a mile and go through their living room window...


Thankfully we don't have that kind of hunting pressure here in Montana anywhere I have ever hunted but I still don't ride during rifle season unless I absolutely have to. If I do I tie orange ribbons in my horse's mane and I wear blaze orange and I have a blaze orange blanket behind my saddle etc. I look like a traffic cone made out of a horse and rider but I don't want anyone accidentally shooting one of my horses.

One of the hunting channels I watch on youtube video recorded a guy shooting directly at him even though he was dressed in blaze orange:
https://youtu.be/ExeLAu6N0Hw?t=362


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

??? Was this a serious question???


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Hondo said:


> ??? Was this a serious question???


Sure. 

Many people with little horse experience think "Why don't you just have the horse lay down so it's easier to get on?" I've been asked that several times.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

AndyTheCornbread said:


> If you watch that whole video though they are only doing it that way to get it to the bottom of the hill and then they are putting it in an 8 wheeled ATV. You wouldn't want to go much further than they did without having it quartered and put in panniers or saddle panniers. Having a shifting, poorly secured load like that is just asking for a wreck. I can see why they did it though but I wouldn't recommend trying that without at least two people present and I definitely wouldn't recommend trying to go very far, and you need to have a really calm, steady, horse like the one in the video.



Yes i watched the entire video. Obviously, some choose a ATV to take extra strain off the ponies but some prefer to use the pony all the way back to the farm buildings. 

When i say traditional, i mean that this method goes back to at least the late 1700s, when it was first recorded, and has been in constant use since. These Highland ponies are especially bred to take weight and trained for the job from foals and would not be on the hill if they were not calm.

My point was that you can't assume that everywhere does it the same way. Neither way is better than the other, just different.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

jonbailey said:


> Often camels get down from a full-standing position to make it easier to mount the animal or load heavy gear.
> 
> *What is this position called?*



Also, I knew I knew the answer to this, but had forgotten it. It's called 'cush'. And for dromedaries, it's a natural position because females use it to make themselves more...accessible... to a male, and also to sleep... Unlike horses.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Caledonian said:


> Y
> 
> My point was that you can't assume that everywhere does it the same way. Neither way is better than the other, just different.


While that may be true, there are ways that are not realistic for someone who has never ridden a horse and gets his ideas from old Westerns, whereas anyone can sit on an ATV and turn a key.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Yup, I thought I mentioned earlier too. The same Highland "ponies" that we trail rode on in the summer are used for packing out deer in the winter. They have special game saddles designed to take a whole deer. Check out their website, it might give more info:

https://rothiemurchus.net/

They also multi-purpose the deer. We paid to go and feed them, which was really neat. That was the breeding herd. Some of those fawns were probably some of the ones shot next year.
@Acadianartist too true. You got that one out before I finished my response. Definitely true. I hope that OP isn't planning on buying a horse and trying to take it out hunting. But it is interesting that this is absolutely a thing in some places.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

Acadianartist said:


> While that may be true, there are ways that are not realistic for someone who has never ridden a horse and gets his ideas from old Westerns, whereas anyone can sit on an ATV and turn a key.


The post was answering those who were saying that there is one sensible way to remove a carcass, which is to gralloch, quarter and carry home in panniers. I was pointing out that we do it differently, the entire animal is carried over the saddle. 

I was focusing on the method of extraction and not the hunters or OP and his ideas about hunting. 

However i agree with you, an ATV would be easier if the person takes his ideas from westerns and can't ride. Here, he'd have no choice but to use an ATV and/or walk with the ponies.


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## keelan (Jan 5, 2010)

Movies are not real. You need to understand that first and pay attention to previous comments. If you continue in this project you and the poor suffering horse will can get hurt.


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