hunting from horseback ?

Agtman, just curious, but what does YOUR personal experience around horses consist of? How many hours have you spent in the saddle? How many horses have you broke to ride? How many years have you spent in the company of horses? If your experience in these areas are lacking, you can't really have a clue as to what you are talking about, beyond conjecture. Conjecture is fine, but I'll take real-world experience about what happens rather than taking a guess as to what I think might happen. I know horses can be conditioned to gunfire. Others, who have also conditioned horses to gunfire, have echoed the same. Yet, you keep inferring we are somehow wrong, based on apparently what you THINK will happen? I'm just trying to find the basis for your opinions. It seems silly to have such a strong opinion on something you haven't tried that compels you to tell others it can't be done. You dismiss other's as ""Custer wanna-bes" but have offered no info as to what makes *your* opinion any more valid?

Well, to answer your first series of redundant questions, various uncles & cousins in the Midwest lived on farms which had, among other animals, horses. Different types too. So I learned to ride early (western saddle on those horses) and, when I was about 12 or 13, took formal riding lessons at a riding academy (English saddle).

As far as hunting where horses are a means of transportation into the area, no issue there. But I'm skeptical about how long a hunter would actually remain in the saddle once he touched off a round from a high-powered centerfire rifle, not a cowboy pistol, which is not typically used to hunt big game or for predator control, like hogs.

Maybe, as Art & Tree Potato have indicated, certain horses can be conditioned with extensive training and/or the use of special horsey earplugs, but I wouldn't want to waste a valuable hog-hunting opportunity being the guinean pig who gets to test Trigger's receptivity with a blast from my .308 or 30.06.

Do you think breed plays a role in how potential training and ease around loud noises affects them?

I'm sure horses can be trained. After all the cavalry fought and shot from horseback going back quite a long time. But that is a lot different than hunting.

I have a friend who pulled horses from GA to CO for an elk hunt years ago. He didn't plan on actually hunting from horseback, just use them to get farther back off the road and bring meat out. But on the ride in he unexpectedly spotted a nice bull in range. He dismounted and tried to get off a shot while holding the reins. With all the distractions of the horse he missed the shot. and spent the rest of the day trying to catch his horse.

Ya'll remember how this one turned out.

About all I've ever expected of a horse was that I could drop the reins and make the shot without it bolting. After that having them not mind some blood is also a good thing, both can be done fairly easy.
No horse I've owned or rode would stand still enough for me to be satisfied to shoot from at any distance but as I stated earlier, it would be quite a deal to have one when bird hunting in deep thick grass if one could shoot from it's back.

Field Tester, about all I can figure is that it depends on the individual horse. I had a maybe-unusual horse that was easy to train. Odds are that many just aren't worth the effort. No way to tell ahead of time, other than observation of individual behavior in general, over time.

Heh. Calls to mind my mother's horse, "Princess". Beautiful animal, but probably should have been named "Spooky".

When shooting predators or deer size game w/ a centerfire cartridge (223/5.56 or .308), it might be possible to avoid being tossed from the saddle by using a suppressor.

As most here probably know, cans reduce significantly not only the decibel noise, but also the concussive lateral blast, which, if shooting unsuppressed while mounted, would otherwise impact Trigger's ears.

Increasingly states are legalizing the use of suppressed firearms while hunting, and if horses can be trained not to bolt or buck wildly at lower levels of gunfire, as in the rodeo pics above where they're shooting pistols, surely they can be trained to accept the rather modest snap that a suppressed rifle makes.

Just a thought for those who really don't want to dismount before shooting.

You guys who want trick horses to shoot off of should join a circus. :banghead:

I guess I don't find my line of questioning redundant,Agtman..........It helped establish what I had previously only assumed....that those discussing shooting from and in the vicinity of firearms likely have much more equestrian experience than you do. Visiting a farm that happened to have horses, even riding freqently is different than working/riding with them in a daily basis. When you rely on a horse as a tool to do your job, you learn their individual personalities, traits you simply don't pick up on without steady exposure. I have a feeling that the people who talk of shooting on or near horses have put that time in, to the point they know their animals and their behaviors. Horses aren't unlike people in they all have personalities and quirks unique to themselves. These kinds of relationships are formed over time, with an individual animal. Trust is key, both you trsuting the the horse, but more importantly, the horse trusting you. horse isn't a Ford Taurus, each is unique. Saying what "a" horse will do in a given situation is as easy as prediciting what a random person would do. You spend years with that horse...or that person....and you'll have a MUCH better understanding of how they respond, and even why they respond that way. Until that bond is formed with an individual animal, you'll never understand what a horse is capable of doing or learning. You see it as redundant, but I see you lacking a fundamental lack of understanding of the sort of connections that can be made between horse and rider, based on a lack of experience with such bonds

Listen Dave, I've ridden enough over the years and bonded enough with my favorite horses to "get" the relationship you're trying to describe. Frankly, I'm confident I have more saddle time, even though I didn't grow up on a farm, than most opining on this thread. That's why I'd personally think long & hard before discharging a centerfire rifle (at least an unsurpressed one) while mounted, since there's no way the concussive blast & high-decibel noise would be deflected away from the horse's head, even if you didn't fire directly over it. Assuming the horse was trained or conditioned to the report of a suppressed rifle, that's different.

These animals, in my view, occupy a special place in their relationship with man and have a storied, shared history with us across various cultures, not just ours. It's really a question of respect. Having said that, you can be assured that I'm anything but an "animal rights" person.

agtman, you'll note that I spoke of acclimatization and training. I figure that anybody who jumps on just any old horse and goes to shooting anything is quite foolish. Working busily on his "Color me stupid" demerit badge.