How were the statistics on manure tonnage, etc., arrived at? Did N.P. rangers actually do a scientific study, or are those stats approximations based on guess work? I cannot imagine any ranger willing to carry scales around the mountains to measure poop! Unless the measurements were made closer to the pack stations, where the animals are more likely to take a dump in an uphill section of a trail.
It's not hard to estimate the tonnage of horse and mule poop deposited in the wilderness. Any decent horseman knows how much hay and grain he feeds. My Anglo-Arab eats 17 pounds a day. My Thoroughbred eats 20+. Once it dries outs, the poop weighs the same as what the horse ate. Do the math. No scale required.
While humans and horses both damage the wilderness, it doesn't take a scientific study to figure out that a human on a horse with a guide and a pack mule cause more damage than a human on foot.
I love my horses, but the horseshit we step in on the trail didn't come from mine.
