Pack Saddles

How it used to be in the old days of Diamond Hitches and sawbuck pack saddles!

Personally, I think a long packing trip requires a well planned and organized outfit where everything has to be concealed so that rain, dust, rodents… don’t spoil, in more than one way, the joy of been out of doors. For me, panniers and sawbuck trees are a must for a long trip.

Like a saddle, a packing tree must fit the pack animal’s back. When I started my journey across the States I hade the old “human” tree. They were fitted on my animals’ backs (horses) and their rigging adjusted. This is not a small task: you can get away with murder on a short few days trip (especially with horses that are not as “sensitive” as mules). But for a day after day, week after week or even month adventure you better keep you pack animals’ back healthy or you won’t move.

When I got my equipment from Wyoming Outdoor Industries Steve Richards mentioned a new type of trees. They were more expensive and I didn’t see the need, as I never had problem in the past with the “old timer style” even on some long and fast trips.

We started slow and heavy to put the horses in the right frame of mind and to give them a chance to settle in a nice routine before starting to move. 

The first three weeks went well and once the animals were conditioned I started pushing further and faster. From 12 to 15 miles a day we went to 20 to 30 miles a day The pace was a succession of walk and slow jog and we would stop for a few days rest every 6 to 8 days of travel.

It was at this time that all the horses got sore back at once. It started with a very light inflammation at the withers and got progressively worse even with extra padding and a lot of pampering.  Within a week of arriving in Alpine they all busted in open ugly wounds.

We doctored them and I worked again on the trees (rasp, glue and leather) to get a better fit. The problem was the clearance between the cross and their backbone associated with the jogging. I changed the padding and we restarted well rested and with the sores almost gone. At the end of the first day the packhorses were in agony. We reached Fort Davis after stopping a truck to carry our gears. I phoned Steve and after a long discussion ordered the new adjustable pack trees for all the packhorses.

We went on for a few days with our gears send from camp to camp (ranch to ranch!!!) for the next 10 days giving the horses a chance to heal while running. We did cover a lot of ground at very good speed and when we received the new packsaddles all the animals were looking good but still very sore.

I went to the process of fitting every one again with its new attire and we went on… And while traveling and covering ground the packhorses were able to finish healing under the packs!!! We reached the Four Corner Area where we rested over a month waiting for the snow to melt further north and I didn’t have to fiddle again with the horses’ back for the rest of the trip. When we reached Cody (WY), Steve couldn’t believe how good the horses looked and there was no trace of their early injuries.

François Varigas