Scale the travois up for a horse with poles 4-5 m long and 8-10 cm thick that cross over the animal’s back on a padded saddle or blanket, held back by a hitch strap round its chest, and carry 100-200 kg on a platform in the rear half; for a large dog, use poles of 2-3 m and 3-4 cm and 15-25 kg. The horse supports part of the load on its back as well as dragging the rest, so the upper end of the range loads it close to its limits.
Part of Sled & Travois Construction
An animal-drawn travois is a pole frame whose front ends rest across a horse’s back or a dog’s shoulders and whose rear ends drag on the ground under a load platform.
The Animal Carries One Share And Drags Another
The parent article describes the travois as used by Native Americans to move entire camps. The load limits it gives are 100-200 kg for a horse and 15-25 kg for a large dog. Using the lever relation from Travois Design, the animal bears W × d / L on its back, and the ground carries the rest as drag.
Horse (assumed poles of 4.5 m, load centre 1.5 m from the ground ends, friction 0.5):
| Load | On the horse’s back W × 1.5 / 4.5 | On the ground | Drag at 0.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 kg | 33 kg | 67 kg | 33 kgf |
| 200 kg | 67 kg | 133 kg | 67 kgf |
Large dog (assumed 2.5 m poles, centre 0.8 m from ground ends): for 15-25 kg the dog carries 4.8-8.0 kg on its shoulders (15 × 0.8 / 2.5 = 4.8; 25 × 0.8 / 2.5 = 8.0) and drags 0.5 × (15 - 4.8) = 5.1 up to 0.5 × (25 - 8.0) = 8.5 kgf.
The vertical share of the horse’s back should be checked against its pack-load limit in Pack Animal Management, and the drag against the sustained pull in Harness Design. At the 200 kg end the horse’s back carries 67 kg and the drag is 67 kgf, so only a fit, conditioned animal on level ground should be loaded to that.
What You Need
- Poles for a horse: 4-5 m long, 8-10 cm thick; for a dog: 2-3 m, 3-4 cm (Materials & Lashing)
- A padded saddle or blanket for the horse, and a harness on the dog’s shoulders
- A hitch strap round the horse’s chest
- A platform in the rear half
- An animal accustomed to dragging poles (Draft Animal Training)
Method: Fit The Frame To The Horse
Step 1: Pad the back. Put the saddle or blanket over the withers and back so the poles do not rest on bone.
Step 2: Cross the poles. Cross the butt ends over the back, resting on the padding.
Step 3: Strap the chest. Fit a hitch strap round the chest so the poles cannot slide backward.
Step 4: Lash the platform in the rear half so the load sits toward the ground ends.
Step 5: Keep the ends flexible. The dragging ends should be slightly flexible; rigid poles transmit every bump to the horse.
Step 6: Walk it unloaded, then at half load, watching the animal’s gait and the padding.
Common Mistakes
- Loading the front half — raises the weight on the animal’s back.
- Rigid poles — the horse takes every jolt.
- Poles bearing on the spine — pad the back and keep the weight off it.
- A dog load at the upper limit for a small dog — 15-25 kg is for a large dog.
Safety
A frightened animal dragging poles
Poles scraping behind a horse or dog can panic an animal that has not met them, and a bolting animal with a heavy load behind it is a danger to people and itself. Introduce the dragging poles gradually and unloaded, never tie the harness so that it cannot be released, keep people out of the line of the poles on slopes, and watch for rubbing sores at the chest strap and saddle.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Materials & Lashing — poles and ties for heavier frames
- Combine with: Pack Animal Management — the animal’s limits