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Riding Among Wildlife
HAVE NO FEAR
An Interview with Wildlife Expert, Mark Peterson
By Laurie Harris
Encountering wildlife from horseback is why I ride. It's what I live to do!
Wildlife will not harm you. Black Bear are what most people seem to be afraid of and they don't realize that Black Bears are flight animals and not predatory. Wolves are predators, but we and our equine partners are not on their menu. Chances of encountering wolves are slim, but if you do, relish it! Wolf sightings are very rare because they always knew you were coming long before you see them, and flee.
Other than grizzly bears, there aren't any animals in the wild that would typically pose a threat to humans, and especially not from horseback. Horses are very large, and even larger with a rider, and no wild animal wants to take on something that might injure them. An injured wild animal is usually a dead wild animal. If you live east of the Dakotas in the US, you will only encounter Black Bear, not Grizzly Bears.
Photography by Mark Peterson