I have no probs with horses at all. I wish we had more in my park in fact to chew up the ground a bit cuz bikes have made it hard as cement.

I'll address a couple of points since I am a horse person. Horses are prey animals which means they don't think you are going to hurt them...they think you are going to eat them. But savvy handlers are good leaders and a horse is a herd animal and will settle down with a good leader. From what I have observed packers are generally good leaders so I don't worry about their horses so much.

And...as far as being on the downhill side goes, a horse that spooks at you is going to spook AWAY from you. Again, he doesn't want to be eaten. So...it would be far better to have a horse spook uphill with a heavy load or a green rider, than downhill. Just food for you to think on....:)

As far as the manure goes, it's great compost and I would rather see horse manure than human waste and TP under every rock and behind every bush like in some well used spots.

Lastly, bless the packers who go early season and clear the downfall from the trail!

Dee