Have Saddle, Will Travel : Low-Impact Trail Riding and Horse Camping [Paperback]

Don West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Millions of horse owners enjoy trail riding and horse camping, and every U.S. state has an active trail riding association. But many riders may find themselves banned from the back country because of the environmental impact they cause. LOW-IMPACT TRAIL RIDING offers a solution: Don West's "Go Right, Go Light," leave-no-trace strategies for low-impact horse camping.

West, an internationally known expert on basic horsemanship and back-country travel, tells you everything you need to know with his generous wit and wisdom. He covers planning and packing for a low-impact trip, back-country ethics, cooking on the trail, tying a horse responsibly, conditioning both the horse and the rider, orienteering, sanitation, and dealing with emergencies. Included are checklists for horse, camping, and personal items, as well as trail-savvy menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A source guide provides lists of trail riding establishments in the United States and abroad.

END

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Hit the Trail!

Millions of horse owners enjoy trail riding and horse camping, and every state has an active trail-riding association. But riders increasingly find themselves banned from the backcountry because of the environmental impact that they cause. Have Saddle, Will Travel offers the solution: Don West's "Go Right, Go Light" low-impact strategies for environmentally friendly adventures on horseback.

Don West shows you how to enjoy your adventures on horseback safely and responsibly. In his inimitable Western style, he shares his passion for adapting to the rhythms of nature, having more fun with less fuss, and preserving our fragile backcountry wilderness. This handsomely photographed book includes tips on preparing, packing, securing your horse, and much more, interspersed with West's tales of outdoor adventure and cowboy poems.

This book is a pleasure to read and provides some great, commonsense suggestions for anyone who spends time in the great outdoors with their horse. I wish I had this book 10 years ago. (GaWaNi Pony Boy, horse behaviorist)

There are many Don Wests: Don the horseman, Don the teacher, Don the inventor, Don the poet. Maybe that kind of man was common in the Renaissance, but it's awfully rare today. What Don offers is uniquely his, and those who reach out and take it are better for it. (Rick Lamb, The Horse Show radio program)

If you like riding the trails and camping on horseback, Don is your answer. (Chris Cox, professional horseman)

About the Author

Don West is an adventurer, traveler, writer, poet, and accomplished horseman. His colorful life has included stints as a Marine, an Outward Bound instructor in the Rocky Mountains, and deputy sheriff of Crested Butte, Colorado. West is one of North America's favorite trail-riding and pleasure horse clinicians and manufactures his own line of saddles, clothing, and saddlebags. He raises and trains Peruvian Paso horses, which he uses on the environmentally friendly backcountry trips he leads.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580173713
• ISBN-13: 978-1580173711
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #752,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not worth the paper it's printed on!!, February 6, 2003

By 

steven d. weiss (Arthur, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Have Saddle, Will Travel : Low-Impact Trail Riding and Horse Camping (Paperback)

I didn't expect this book to be about horse "packing," but I did expect it to provide useful ideas about horse "camping," and general information on back country techniques and practices. Unfortunately, this book is virtually nothing more than West's demeaning views about other backcountry users and an advertisement for his line of clothing and horse tack. Some of the information is questionable at best and lethal at worst, such as picketing a horse by the halter, or high lining a horse so that it can graze during the night.

Additionally, there is no information about horse first aid, nor horse nutrition/feed (West travels in the Rockies of CO so he just grazes his mounts on hard mountain grass, which for that environment is understandable but just one more limiting factor of this exceptionally limited book), maybe a paragraph pertains to any type of horse training. West does mention that one should bury one's own feces 6-8" in the earth (a recommendation neither feasible nor advisable in a rocky arid environment)but in his suggested equipment list a shovel is not mentioned.

Overall, if one is interested in learning about packing or even just camping with horses, there is no better book than Packin' In On Mules and Horses. That book is not only thoroughly informative, but written as the best of "how to" books are written: with advise on a number of options, and with compelling reasons for why the author prefers one option over the others.

A final disappointment about Have Saddle Will Travel is that it is published by Storey Books. Storey has published some great books, but this is certainly not one of them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a pamphlet, September 15, 2005

By 

M. Grissom (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Have Saddle, Will Travel : Low-Impact Trail Riding and Horse Camping (Paperback)

I wish I would have paid attention to the review which said the packing information could be summed into 10 pages. That reviewer was dead on. The actual packing information could have been summed up into a pamphlet. Most of the book is Don's stories and poetry which someone must find more interesting than I did.

The author has a definite disdain for hunters whom he refers to as "The Orange Army". The author does market his own "system" of panniers and cantle bags which based upon their price must be the best. Country Supply has a similar, simpler system for almost $200 less. However, it concerns me to place all of that weight over the horse's poor kidneys.

The actual information in the book could be summed up as: use a small backpack tent,sleeping bag,stove, and only pack during the season and within an area your horse can graze so you don't carry feed.

Smoke Elsner's and Joe Back's books on packing are true packing books, and I highly recommend them both, but they are aimed at a different crowd who use multiple horses. I agree with Don West's goal of camping with just you and your horse, but I was disappointed in the book's lack of informative content and sheer volume of fluff.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ... great return policy., August 4, 2002

By 

T. E. Rhodes (Erie, Co USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Have Saddle, Will Travel : Low-Impact Trail Riding and Horse Camping (Paperback)

If you're interested the exercises the author does to stay in shape - this is the book for you.
If you're interested in getting into the nuts n' bolts of camping and packing with horses - this is NOT the book for you. Keep looking because this ain't it.
The meaningful information related to camping and packing with horses could be condensed to maybe ten pages.