The Pocket Guide to Equine Knots by Dan Aadland

Author:Dan Aadland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2017-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

Sawbuck packsaddle with soft panniers.

All went well until I arrived in camp, exhausted from an afternoon that involved skinning and quartering such a large animal by myself in place on the ground. I found it utterly impossible to stand on my tiptoes, reach down into the panniers, and extract the heavy quarters. Had the panniers been conventional, separate ones, I could have removed them, but the top panel connecting the two saddle panniers made that impossible. I had no choice but to carefully remove breeching and breast collar, then checking and double checking to see that nothing would hang up, I removed the main cinch on the packsaddle and rolled the entire affair off Sugar’s back. He was a good, steady horse and did not spook.

Another limitation of saddle panniers used on a riding saddle is their lack of a breeching (often “britchin’”) to help the horse hold back the load on downhill grades. A crupper serves in this regard as well. With all packing, it’s important to understand that the horse is carrying dead weight. The packs do not compensate for the horse’s motion in the way a good rider does, which is why it’s wise to limit total loads to around one hundred fifty pounds. A breeching or crupper helps stabilize the load on downhill grades. Either can be purchased separately and added to a riding saddle intended for packing use, but appropriate D-rings might have to be added to the extra saddle, and perhaps it’s better to invest that money in an actual packsaddle.

Sawbuck Saddle

The most economical of these is the time-proven sawbuck, also called the crossbuck. Its names derive from what used to be a common backyard fixture, a setup with crossed poles on which you could lay logs to saw into blocks for firewood. The sawbuck saddle has been a staple of packing in America for well over a century, and it’s found in many parts of the world. On a riding trek in the mountains of southern Spain I saw packers using sawbuck saddles.

The sawbuck is made of two wooden “bars,” shaped to fit the backs of most animals (though these can be custom shaped with a rasp if necessary). These are secured together by two pairs of hardwood slats, fastened where they cross forming two Xs. Normally sawbucks are “double rigged,” having two cinches rather than one, usually fastened with latigo knots (two facing half hitches), and they’re equipped with a simple breast strap and the essential breeching.

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