Join us for a horse and mule packing clinic!

This experience gets into the knitty gritty of packing skills, and includes:

• Sawbuck and decker loads and hitches.

• A unique opportunity for an intro to hoof trimming and backcountry shoeing demonstration.

• A half- day horsemanship with clinic with Spencer Dominick, geared towards backcountry travel with stock, and prep work for both riding and packing animals.

• Discussion around backcountry vet care.

• An overnight trip to our prairie camp where you put all of the skills to use, and camp out with stock.

During this experience, you will gain knowledge of frequently-used hitches, ponying stock, stringing together pack animals, camping and animal restraint, and balancing loads. You will also learn to balance the hard work of packing stock for recreational use with the fun times that these amazing animals bring us.

This class is intended for riders who want to gain confidence as they get more recreational packing experience under their belt, with a goal of self-sufficiency, building confidence and safety.  We will blend traditional packing skills and learn systems using both a sawbuck and decker pack saddle. You will have opportunity with repetition of the basics both on and off your saddle horse so you can develop your own feel within these systems to pack safely. With a night out at camp to wrap up the learning, we will get practice loading, unloading, with setting up and breaking down camp. Although we will introduce you to mantying cargo, we will generally use basket hitches with iron cloth bags; box hitches using lash cinches around panniers; both with and without top loads.  

Many of us aspire to spend more time in the wilderness, and this class is a low-key way to prepare you for just those types of adventures - whether you pack your own animals or just want to be useful with your friends. As a participant, you can use our horses and mules, or bringing your own.

The clinic is taught entirely on private ranchlands - a great opportunity for learning skills and still seeing some pretty country. We will ride across contiguous ranch properties in native prairie grassland ecosystems to the east of the Crazy Mountains. We may run into a couple beef cows, elk, pronghorn, deer, coyotes, and native birds, but we will likely not see any other people. Food will be prepared for you the first two days while learning (and will be a joint effort at camp). Participants will help with all aspects of animal care that come up (restraint, tacking up, setting up and taking down camp, loading, making decisions as a group depending on what comes up during our time together).

The goal is to improve our skills, empower you to learn, have fun, and stay safe. Please come ready to share your goals with the group.