Packhorse - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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A packhorse or pack horse refers generally to an equid

Equus (genus)

Equus is a genus of animals in the family Equidae that includes horses, donkeys, and zebras. Within Equidae, Equus is the only extant genus. Like Equidae more broadly, Equus has numerous extinct species known only from fossils. This article deals primarily with the extant species.The term equine...

such as a horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

, mule

Mule

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

, donkey

Donkey

The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...

or pony

Pony

A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...

used for carrying goods on their backs, usually carried in sidebags or pannier

Pannier

A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket....

s. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of wheeled vehicles. Use of packhorses dates from the neolithic period to the present day. Today, westernized nations primarily use packhorses for recreational pursuits, but they are still an important part of everyday transportation of goods throughout much of the third world

Third World

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

History

Packhorses have been used since the earliest period of domestication of the horse

Domestication of the horse

There are a number of hypotheses on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 BCE, these were truly wild horses and were probably hunted for meat. How and when horses became domesticated is disputed...

. They were invaluable throughout antiquity, through the Middle Ages

Horses in the Middle Ages

Horses in the Middle Ages differed in size, build and breed from the modern horse, and were, on average, smaller. They were also more central to society than their modern counterparts, being essential for war, agriculture, and transport....

, and into modern times, used wherever roads were nonexistent or poorly maintained.

Historic use in the United Kingdom

Packhorses were heavily used in the transport of goods in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

in the period up until the coming of the first turnpike roads

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

and canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s in the 18th century. Away from main routes, their use persisted into the 19th century. This usage has left a history of old paths across wilderness areas called packhorse roads, and distinctive narrow and low sided stone arched packhorse bridge

Packhorse bridge

A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...

s at various locations. For similar reasons, names such as The Packhorse are common public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

names throughout England.

Historic use in North America

The packhorse, mule or donkey was a critical tool in the development of the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

. In colonial America, Spanish, French and English traders made use of pack horses to carry goods to remote Native Americans and to carry hides back to colonial market centers.

As the nation expended west, packhorses, singly or in a pack train of several animals, were used by early surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

s and explorers, most notably by fur trappers, "Mountain men", and gold prospectors

Prospecting

Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...

who covered great distances by themselves or in small groups. Packhorses were used by Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

people when traveling from place to place, and were also used by traders to carry goods to both Indian and White settlements. During a few decades of the 19th Century, enormous pack trains carried goods on the Old Spanish Trail

Old Spanish Trail (trade route)

The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route which connected the northern New Mexico settlements near or in Santa Fe, New Mexico with that of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately long, it ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is...

from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

west to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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On current United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

maps, many such trails continue to be labeled pack trail.

Other historic uses

Packhorses are used worldwide to convey many products.

Modern uses

In North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, in areas such the Bicentennial National Trail

Bicentennial National Trail

The Bicentennial National Trail , formerly known as the National Horse Trail is the longest marked multi-use trail in the world, stretching 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown, through New South Wales to Healesville, 60 km north-east of Melbourne...

, the packhorse still plays a major role in recreational pursuits, particularly to transport goods and supplies into wilderness areas and where motor vehicles are either prohibited or impracticable. They are used by mounted outfitter

Outfitter

An outfitter is a shop or person that sells men's clothes . More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. The term is most closely associated with outdoor activities such as rafting, hunting, fishing,...

s, hunters, campers

Camping

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...

, stockmen and cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

s to carry necessary tools and equipment that cannot be carried with the rider. They are used by guest ranches to transport materials into remote locations to set up campsites for tourists and other guests. They are even used by the United States Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

and the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

to carry in supplies to help maintain trails, cabins, and even to bring in commercial goods to backcountry tourist lodges and other remote but permanent residences.

In the third world, packhorses and donkeys to an even greater extent, are still seen hauling goods to market, carrying supplies for workers, and many other of the same jobs that have been performed for millennia.

In modern warfare

Horses in warfare

The first use of horses in warfare occurred over 5,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of horses ridden in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons...

, packhorses are still used to bring supplies to areas where roads are poor and fuel supply is uncertain. For example, they are a critical part of the supply chain for all sides of the conflict in remote parts of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

Training and utilization

Foundation training of the packhorse is similar to that of a riding horse. Many, though not all packhorses are also trained to be ridden. In addition, a packhorse is required to have additional skills that may not be required of a riding horse. A pack horse is required to be tolerant of close proximity to other animals in the packstring, both to the front and to the rear. The horse must also be tolerant of breeching, long ropes, noisy loads, and the shifting of the load during transit. Patience and tolerance is crucial; for example, while there are many ways that pack horses are put into a pack string, one method incorporates tying the halter

Halter

A halter, headcollar, or, less often, headstall, is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears , and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope or lead shank is attached...

lead of one animal to the tail of the animal in front of it, an act that often provokes kicking or bolting

Bolting (horse)

Bolting when referring to equidae, generally refers to two different equine behaviors, both undesirable: the practice of running away without control, and the practice of eating food at a dangerously fast rate. However, there are other meanings as well...