Your horse experience and mine are pretty similar. All I knew about horses was what I learned at the pony ring at the fair or from watching westerns. Don't get me wrong, horses are a great way to access the back country if you know what the hell you are doing, which I didn't. We met up with our rancher friend out in a Colorado wilderness area and Gary said here is your horse. Say what? A buddy got him saddled for me and the horse knew that I didn't have a clue how to operate him, so together we just fed our way up the mountain together. I was the comic relief for the horse guys because I was coming down in the saddle when the horse was coming up. After two days of the sorest buns ever, I said to myself that I'll never see an elk this way, so I left the horse at the tent and walked. Later that week I tracked down and shot a big 5x6 when I started hunting elk like the deer back home. When a horse neophyte really appreciates a horse is when you have 700# of elk laying there and there is a guy in camp with pack horses that knows what he's doing. Also, there is very little breathable air out there at 10,000 feet for a flat-lander use to 500 feet, so get in shape before you go.
