Logging with horses returns to Double Arrow Ranch

SEELEY LAKE – While several decades have passed since horses were used to log on the Double Arrow Ranch, last Monday a pair of horses and mules owned by Rob Henrekin and his daughter Jess Lehl helped clean up the Whitetail Aspen Commons. The Double Arrow Land Owner Association (DARLOA) Parks & Resources Committee Chair Tom Browder said the method was a perfect fit for the area.

"What old is new again," Browder said. "Now we have this example ...and maybe some other folks in the area that have marshy property or wetlands, it might give them an idea to use horses instead of something mechanized."

The Whitetail Aspen Commons is one of the 10 common areas that the DARLOA Parks & Resources Committee manages. The common area is eight acres and is highly visible along Whitetail Road, arguably the busiest entrance to the Ranch.

"For years people have asked the P&R Committee, 'Can't you clean it up?'" Browder said. "It has those old, downed aspens and it just is kind of ugly. It always fell to the bottom of the pile but we decided to clean it up."

Committee Member David Wallenburn recommended contacting Rob Henrekin about using their horses and mules to move the logs. Because the common area is right along Trail Creek, the soil is damp most of the year.

"It is kind of a fragile environment," Browder said. "By using the horses we thought it would be a much lighter touch on the ground and it really was."

The Henrekins own four Percheron horses and Lehl owns two Belgium mules. They primarily use the horses and mules to offer wagon rides in the summer and sleigh rides in the winter at various events and for Double Arrow Lodge.

The Henrekins have also used them to skid logs on their property. The horses also competed for more than 10 years in a Draft Horse Show. One of the competitions was skidding logs through an obstacle course.

"While the commands are the same, it is just a different environment," Henrekin said. "The communication [while skidding logs] is so much more fun because you are constantly communicating instead of just plodding down a road or a trail."

When Wallenburn called mid-summer, Henrekin was initially hesitant because he was so busy. However, when he mentioned it to Lehl "he didn't have to twist my arm real hard."

"I look for any excuse to get to use the mules and go do something fun with the teams with my dad," Lehl said. "It is something fun we can do together."

"We are not horse loggers. We just took it on as something to do with the horses, that we could do together and help pay for some hay," Henrekin added. "It is fun to work the horses and give them something different to do."

On Thursday, Sept. 23 around 10 volunteers spent the day prepping the Whitetail Aspen Commons. They cut and bucked the aspen into 15-foot lengths that the horses could drag and piled the brush.

Eight more volunteers returned Monday, Sept. 27 to help. The Henrekins brought horses named Willie and Sam and mules Rose and Violet. Skidding logs was nothing new to Willie, Rose and Violet.

"They have been there, done that. They don't get too excited about much," Lehl said explaining the biggest challenge for her mules was convincing them to work instead of snacking on the belly deep thistle.

This was the first time pulling logs for Sam. Henrekin said he "Took to it like a fish to water."

Lehl started with her team of mules. They were easier to maneuver and opened up the pathways making more room for the horses to work. Then the horses started. They could drag larger logs faster than the team of mules.

Henrekin said after a while they all get in the groove.

"It is fun to see the mules and the horses start to figure out what is going on," Henrekin said.

Lehl explained how much thinking is required. Not only do the animals have to think individually about where to step and how hard to pull, they also have to work as a team while listening to the driver.

"There is a whole bunch of different dynamics," Lehl said. "That is probably why we are so tired at the end of the day."

The teams drug the logs to the piles. Then the volunteers stacked the logs into piles.

Henrekin said it was a lot of work but having Wallenburn and his crew there was a great help and he appreciated the opportunity.

"I think it was good for that piece of property to do it that way and it was a fun day to be able to work together with [the DARLOA volunteers]," Henrekin said. "We couldn't have done it without them on the ground, helping out and clearing brush, rolling logs out of the way."

"It was one of those days where when we were done we could both sit down and feel like we did something and know that it was a good day. We looked back on it and smiled," Lehl said. "I just had a ball getting to do something outside, with my team and we met some really nice folks along the way."

Browder said they left several dead standing aspen as wildlife trees because they saw "critter" activity. However, residents are welcome to cut up aspen on the ground for firewood.

The Committee hopes to burn the piles of logs and brush this fall. They also want to treat the weeds and plant the area with younger aspens and willows.

"Now people will see a much prettier Whitetail Aspens as they drive along Whitetail Road," Browder said. "That is why it has been such an exciting project."