This is the real thing. Horse POWER!
Working with horses, and tapping into their strength to help get the job
done.
I’ll explain the
story of “why” in the following section, but as you’ll see, it’s not hard
to learn, comes naturally to many horses, and is a great way to get the
job done, simply, without relying on modern machinery. Most of our Horse
Power work is moving dirt and rock, digging ditches and building up a
bank. Through our work, we’ve learned to pull logs, stumps, tarps, rocks;
dig and plow; from the saddle or from the ground, with the help of our
horse. Or I suppose I should say “the mighty force” of our horse. He
makes it look easy and makes light work of what - without some gas powered
equipment - would be back breaking labor. And the best part is, all this
work is easy on the ears, the environment, and the wallet… It’s a lost art
we are proud to be keeping alive.
So, through what
we’ve learned in the past three years, with a couple people, one horse,
and some ingenious creativity so common among homesteaders, I’d like you
to consider the possibility of horse power, going far beyond digging a
ditch as we may be doing; seeing what else this power can be used for,
from turning a garden to plowing a field, hauling wood to the fire or logs
to the cabin site. It’s amazing what we can do with the power of the
horse.
I’m a homesteader in
the high mountains of southern Colorado, operating a seasonal
guest ranch at our home to try to make a living. I live this life because
I love it. Working the land. Working with my family. Working with my
animals. Able to be here and make it work out. Not always perfect, but
pretty good. Challenges are a part of it all, aren’t they? I’d imagine
you feel the same way, or at the least, are learning and moving closer to
the land each year.
My husband, son and
myself are outfitters in these mountains. We guide folks on horseback
rides and trips in the Wilderness. But when the trend for ATVs increased
and the demand for horses decreased, we were stumped. Like any
homesteader worth their weight in salt (strange expression, as I’m
thinking salt is pretty cheap nowadays), it was time to adjust and make
do, to find a way to make it work out - always a good challenge. In this
case, the challenge was figuring out how to make our horses still “pay
their rent;” to find a job to do with our horses.
And wouldn’t you know
it... Sometimes when you least expect it, the answer knocks on your door.
Or in this case, came in over e-mail, since we have no phone service here,
and live too far away for most folks to stop by our front door
unexpectedly. We were offered a job in the Wilderness to maintain a
trans-continental water diversion ditch. In technical terms, this means
there is ditch about 6-10 feet wide, spanning over a mile, that brings
water from the west side of the Divide to the east. The ditch was
originally created back in the 1930’s, with a lot of man and horse and
burro power, as well as a lot of dynamite. Today, the ditch still runs
and is owned by a water conservancy district in the valley miles below,
but the ditch needs regular maintenance – silt removed, blocking trees
felled, banks raised, and blown-out sections completely rebuilt. In
simple terms, it means we get to go camp on the Continental Divide with
our horses and dig ditch with nothing but hand tools and horse power.
Remember, this is in the Wilderness – with a Capital W! No modern
machinery. Not even the wheel…
Great. Well, digging
by hand, we knew how to do. Between plenty of post holes and raised
garden beds, we considered ourselves rather experienced with the shovel.
But using our horses to dig? To pull? To break and move dirt? We had no
clue.
So we learned.
