The "Bell Mare" was mentioned by Drummond Stewart in "Edward Warren". Somewhat anecdotal, and possibly influenced by English practices, although his intent was to portray the lifestyle of the mountain men. Dave's recent posting on this topic makes good sense to me.
Pat Quilter
-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Sheedy [mailto:nsheedy2@???]
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 7:10 PM
To: Wynn; hist_text@???; Pat Quilter
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Bell Mare
The bell mare was the senior mare of the heard. Horse herds are matriarchal... the herd does not follow a stallion, they generally follow the alpha-mare. They would put a bell on her so they could hear where the hear was. My father-in law's family ranch in eastern Oregon still used a bell mare when he was a kid (in the 1960s and 1970s). It's the same rationale for putting a bell on a cow. I've been reading journals of my great-great-grandfather who staked the first homestead west of the Columbia in NE Washington, and alot of time was wasted trying to find out where their horses and milk cows had drifted. Big clunking bells made it easier.
I've never read of mountain men using bells on their horses.
--Nick Sheedy
--- On Fri, 5/29/09, Pat Quilter <pat_quilter@???> wrote:
> From: Pat Quilter <pat_quilter@???>
> Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Hobbles
> To: "Wynn" <wheels@???>, hist_text@???
> Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 1:44 PM
> For what it's worth, our concerns
> today regarding horses are notably
> different than the old days. As far as I can tell, the
> original
> mountaineers valued their horses as tools but weren't as
> tender hearted
> as we are. I gather they generally let their horses graze
> under the eye
> of a night watchman. There are stories of them wandering
> due to the
> sentry sleeping, night frights etc. Also, there is mention
> of a "bell
> mare", apparently deemed the most level headed dominant
> mare who could
> normally be trusted to keep the herd together. She might
> possibly be
> picketed or restrained, keeping the herd nearby, or at
> least the bell
> would assist in locating the herd, but this is speculation
> on my part
> since I've never seen it used in modern times. Picket pins
> are also
> mentioned. Today, high lines are often used (based on
> cavalry
> precedent), but there will still be tangle ups on occasion.
> But mostly,
> I suspect they avoided such problems by using watchmen
> (after all, if
> you were REALLY concerned about bears and Indians, wouldn't
> you want a
> sentry?). A modern day outing would do well to designate a
> "man on deck"
> (perhaps a rotating duty each night), who, even if not
> staying up as a
> watchman, is expected to respond quickly if the horses
> start getting
> vocal.
> Pat Quilter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hist_text-bounces@???
> [mailto:hist_text-bounces@???]
> On Behalf Of Wynn
> Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 9:03 AM
> To: hist_text@???
> Subject: MtMan-List: Hobbles
>
> Townsend gives a detailed description
> of pickets
> horses for the night. He has them tied to a leather
> halter
> and wearing hobbles on the front feet.
> I have serious problems with that method:
> First leaving a sturdy halter on a horse in the dark or
> unatended can lead to dead or injured horses from the
> back
> foot getting caught in the halter when the horse
> scratches.
> Ner had this happen to me but I think it is not super
> common. What I mean by that is it doesn't happen
> everytime
> you put a horse out in a halter. The porblem is that
> when
> it does happen its real bad. I actually think my
> Indain
> halters made in the design suggested by Ewers, would be
> more
> likely to come off than the typical rope halters as
> they
> have a give point that can put slack in the rope if
> the
> preasure is not directly down the lead.
> Advantages of tying to a hobble on the foot or feet:
> When Ol Piss and Thunder is out there grazing in his
> picket
> tied to the halter and he raises his head to look at
> an
> imaginary rock that is sneaking up on him, the picket
> line
> goes up with his head. If it is wraped around his leg
> he is
> caught. If it aint he will just go back to eating for 4.7
> minutes until he has to eyeball that rock again.
> Sooner or
> later that rope is going circle a leg. Now he will
> learn
> not to fight it if hes got sense, but sooner or later he
> will get real tied up. Matter of time. Especially
> since
> when P&T realizes he is caught he raises his
> head and
> tightens the rope just like one of the snares tied to
> a
> branch.
> If you only picket in daylight and stay close that will
> work even if with rope burns. If you leave
> P&T out in
> the dark???? How them mountaineeers done that I
> dunno
> unless putting the hobbles on the feet helped keep the
> rope
> off the feet.
> Now if you tie to the feet the rope stays on the ground
> most all the time. Especially if the picket is fairly
> long
> if it catches on a foot it just falls back off.
> Anybody got a different experience?
> Has anybody used anything for hobble/s besides the
> standard
> heavy leather and buckle hobble?
> Wynn
>
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