where
Lone Pine, California

what
Mountain Horsemanship: Veterinary Care and Horsepacking in the Wilderness

Equine Ed in the High Sierras

Enroll in the UC Davis (cpe.ucdavis.edu) horsepacking and veterinary care trip in California’s Golden Trout Wilderness, where you’ll learn how to feed stock in the backcountry, treat hurt or sick horses in the wilderness, manage pack mules, and more. You’ll ride provided horses and mules, based on your riding ability. Instructor Craig London, DVM, is co-owner of Rock Creek Pack Station and Mt. Whitney Pack Trains, and Amy McLean, PhD, an assistant professor in Teaching of Equine Science in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis, has devoted her professional career to conducting donkey and mule research that focuses on their improved management and well-being.

Gather your essential trail-riding gear such as a pommel bag, water bottle holder, and a gel seat pad. 

Products we feature have been selected by our editorial staff. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn a commission. For more information click here. 

The Facts: 6 | The hours participants will spend in the saddle each day.

Don’t Miss This

learn.
Use the principles of Leave No Trace camping to best serve the wilderness in which you ride, while learning principles of shoeing, IV injections, applying wraps, diagnosing lameness, and more.

camp.
The night before the training course begins, camp at beautiful Diaz Lake just south of Lone Pine.

eat.
The Pack Station provides snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, packed by the wranglers and instructors. Breakfast and dinner are great camp cooking, and lunches are sandwiches.

Rides of a Lifetime, Everyday

Rides to the top of Kern Peak and Volcano Falls, and across the Sierra Nevada’s lush meadows.