1966-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1966 September Voice RS | Page 16

WALKING
HORSES
in the
WILDERNESS
BY GENE ROBINSON
EDITOR’S NOTE: We would like to thank Mr.
Gene Robinson of Ogden, Utah, for this contribution to
our magazine. This article clearly relates the ability of
the Tennessee Walking Horse to traverse the rugged
mountain terrain in excellent fashion. Mr. Robinson is
a retired food broker and has ridden and bred Walking
Horses for many years.
*
*
*
We untied the diamond hitches, coiled the lash ropes,
and as we lifted the last of the two hundred and fifty
pound packs from the backs of our three registered
Tennessee Walking Horses, one of our party of five re­
minded that the spot where we were about to set up
our camp was more than 10,000 feet above sea level.
He had stopped some three-quarters of a mile down the
precipitous trail to photograph a U.S. Geological Survey
bronze marker which indicated the altitude there was
9,750 feet.
We had climbed rapidly since passing the marker.
The horses wer lathered and breathing heavily in the
rare atmosphere. As we affixed the hobbles to the last
of the eight Walking Horses and turned them out to
graze on the lush alpine grasses, we noted again, with
deep satisfaction, as we had many times previously, the
stamina, durability and dependability of this breed for
use on our rugged Rocky Mountain trails.
It was August 8, and for the eighth year we were
now ready to pitch the tent and prepare our fishing
camp on the headwaters of the East Fork River in the
Bridgcr Wilderness in western Wyoming.
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Only a few hundred yards beyond our campsite the
Embryo River literally bursts from the towering cliffs,
thrusting huge granite spires aloft to silhouette against
the azure clear sky and to form the Continental Divide.
To reach our destination we had first hauled our
horses and equipment, by truck, more than two hundred
miles from Ogden, Utah, to Big Piney, Wyoming. Here
we stopped to fill gasoline tanks and an auxiliary gas
can, just in the event of any emergency.
Big Piney, a typical, western “cow town,” often has
the dubious distinction of recording the lowest winter
temperatures of any station reporting to the U.S. Weather
Bureau.
We had obtained Utah health and brand inspection
certificates for the horses before leaving Ogden. For
some inexplicable reason, a long standing feud has pre­
vailed between the brand inspection departments of the
two sister states. Hence, we were obliged to again secure
duplicate inspection certificates from the Wyoming brand
inspector ,stationed at Big Piney. Perhaps it was “Horse
VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse