Tracking 101: Tracking is like Reading a Story ©

 

 

Mystery animal tracks!  What could it be? 

 

Do you know what it is?  Here is a closer look.  Any thoughts yet?  What’s the story that the tracks tell?

 

No, how about now?  That’s right, it’s a horse of course! 

 

Horse tracks are usually seen in pairs, and the marks of the hind hooves are generally longer and narrower than those of the front hooves.  

 

Reading tracks is like reading a story, you just have to know how to read the signs.  So, what story can these tracks tell us?

 

Well, first off, we know that there were two horses, because there are two lines of tracks, side by side.

 

But what else can we learn from these tracks?

 

A practiced tracker can tell a lot about a horse from its tracks.  You can tell with a glance if the horse is walking, trotting, cantering or galloping, or when the horse is tired. 

 

So, what story can we read from the tracks?

 

We know that two horses with riders trotted down the path.  We know they had riders since they moved in a straight line and didn’twander.  We know that the horses were shod, since we can see the marks of their shoes and nails in their tracks.

 

In fact, it was two sheriffs and their horses, who were patrolling the area around Cazenovia Creek, near Buffalo, New York, on a Sunday evening.

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Knots Worth Knowing: the Bowline©”, where we will talk about how to camp in the winter wilderness and stay warm and safe.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

Sources

 

Boy Scouts of America; Handbook for Scout Masters, Boy Scouts of America, [Boy Scouts of America, New York, NY, 1914], page 37, https://books.google.com/books?id=pEcqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36&dq=horse+tracking+scout&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7pJKwjO6GAxVWEFkFHZcrCLA4ChDoAXoECAsQAg#v=onepage&q=horse%20tracking%20scout&f=false, accessed June 18, 2024

 

Boy Scouts of America, The Official Handbook for Boys, [Doubleday, Page and Company, Garden City, NJ, 1915], page 227, https://books.google.com/books?id=sHB_n6LDF_wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The_Official_Handbook_for_Boys&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOx5e4je6GAxUAEVkFHZ9cDicQ6AF6BAgNEAI#v=onepage&q=The_Official_Handbook_for_Boys&f=false, accessed June 15, 2024

 

Dollar, John A. W. and Wheatley, Albert; A Handbook of Horse-shoeing, [David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1898], pages 21, 75 and 147, https://books.google.com/books?id=ybswAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=horse+hooves&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix1u3YmuWGAxWEm4kEHZ48B1UQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=horse%20hooves&f=false, accessed June 18, 2024

 

Editor of the Phrenological Journal; The Phrenological Miscellany, From 1865 to 1873, [Fowler & Wells Co., New York, 1887], page 319-321, https://books.google.com/books?id=Fw0uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA319&dq=tracking+indian+ponies&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizuYaM5eKGAxUqg4kEHXbyBYs4ChDoAXoECAoQAg#v=onepage&q=tracking%20indian%20ponies&f=false, accessed June 17, 2024

 

Farrow, Edward Samuel; Mountain Scouting: A Handbook for Officers and Soldiers on the Frontiers, [Edward S. Farrow, New York, NY, 1881], pages 232 -233, https://books.google.com/books?id=fec-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA233&dq=horse+tracking+scout&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgrvGYouWGAxVQjokEHbf6AjY4MhDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=horse%20tracking%20scout&f=false, accessed June 18, 2024

 

Royal United Service Institution; The Cavalry Journal, Volume 2, January to October, “Extracts from a ‘Lantern Lecture’ on Tracking”, page 506, [C-Gilbert Wood, London, 1907], https://books.google.com/books?id=m58jAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA506&dq=horse+tracking+scout&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixwJHxneWGAxUwrYkEHY3AAX84ChDoAXoECAoQAg#v=onepage&q=horse%20tracking%20scout&f=false, accessed June 18, 2024

 

Whitehall, Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Volume 61, Issues 1-2, February and May 1916, [J. Keliher & Co. Limited, London, 1916] pages 384 to 386 and 388, https://books.google.com/books?id=OzMwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA384&dq=horse+tracking+scout&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0oavyoOWGAxVEAHkGHW-LBmI4HhDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=horse%20tracking%20scout&f=false, accessed June 18, 2024