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Saddle Up!
Horsepacking with Kids
By Alice Cary, GORP Family Expert

Round up the horses, partner, and get the family mounted. A horse-packing trip may be just the adventure your troop needs.

Picture it: Picnicking by an alpine lake high in Wyoming's backcountry, away from the crowds, deep in the wilderness.

Families who find backpacking difficult are likely to find horse-packing trips a workable alternative for gaining backcountry access. And hasn't every hiker or backpacker fantasized about having a pack animal relieve the burden from her back?

Whether you want to saddle up or simply lighten your load, pack trips are a superb-albeit pricey-way for families to get a taste of the outback. For a full-range of horseback trip options, including trips that combine horseback riding with hiking, rafting, and other activities.

Who Can Go? In the United States, the trail animal of choice has historically been the horse. For anyone big or small who has ever dreamt of being a cowboy or who has fallen in love with classics like Black Beauty, riding a horse is a dream come true.

"People are universally attracted to horses for their power, grace, beauty, and speed," says Jim Allen. Jim runs the Diamond Four Ranch in Lander, Wyoming ."A horse will give you everything it has. If you ask a horse to jump over a cliff, he'll do it for you."

While babies and young children can ride double with their parents, horse packing trips are best suited for school-age children who, with instruction, can ride solo. When their oldest daughter was 1 -1/2, Jim and his wife took her on a 15-mile pack-in trip for a week. However, Allen's firm doesn't typically take children younger than seven.

Families with very young children can still get a taste of the equestrian experience by staying a few nights back at the ranch. The Diamond 4, for instance, has log cabins, a cook house, and horse corrals at 9,200 feet above sea level.

Horse-packing expeditions are suited to both active and less-active families. Some children, for instance, would never have the ambition or energy to take a 50-mile wilderness trip on foot, but, on a horse, the trip becomes a virtual cruise.