Horse Takes on Grizzly Bear--And Wins!

 

On July 30, Erin Bolster of Swan Mountain Outfitters was guiding her eight clients around the Flathead National Forest between West Glacier and Hungry Horse, an hour-long loop that is the shortest trail ride they offer. One of her clients, a man from Illinois, brought his eight-year old son, the kid's first horseback trail riding experience.

 

"It's the shortest ride we offer," said Bolster, recalling the incident. "We'd already led two trips that morning. It's always been a very routine hour-long loop, until that day."

 

Bolster was riding Tonk, a beautiful and quite large 18-hand Percheron/Quarter Horse cross with spunk. She was leading the group and the eight-year old, who was riding the obedient horse, Scout, followed right behind her.

 

"At the peak of the season, we were seeing bears daily," Bolster stated. "The wranglers name them so we can let each other know where they are. Usually the bears just keep feeding in the distance or they run away when we come. Just seeing them is a treat for us and our guests." Knowing about bears and what to do is part of the training as a wrangler offering such trail tours.

 

Tonk was a new mount that Bolster leased from Wyoming for the summer to do trail rides. He was spirited and "spooky" and full of spunk, which Bolster likes in her mounts. 

 

"It was a pleasant ride until we came around a corner on the trail and my horse stopped firm and wouldn't move," Bolster said. "He never refuses to go, so that caught my attention quick."

 

The next she knew, a white-tail deer came bursting out of the forest right at Tonk. The frightened deer turned on a dime, but still managed to clip the big horse in the shoulder. Tonk spun as the deer took off, but that's when Bolster saw the huge Grizzly come busting out of the woods after the deer.

 

The horses in the group panicked. "No amount of training could keep a horse from running from a 700-pound charging bear," Bolster said.

 

Horses are prey animals with strong fight or flight instinct and in this case, they were ready to fly! Somewhere in the confusion the bear began heading for Scout instead of the deer. And this is where the story gets interesting.

 

The other horses, doing what horses are supposed to do in this situation, took off down the trail towards home. Scout, confused, got between bear and woods. And the snarling bear was ready and willing to have both horse and boy meat for dinner. 

 

But, in a feat of amazing courage on the part of Tonk, Bolster turned the massive horse around and got herself and the ton of horse between Scout and the bear. The boy was terrified, hanging on to the horse's neck, barely clinging.

 

It was brave enough for Bolster to be willing to put herself between the Grizzly and the boy, but to convince a horse, any horse, to run into the face of such danger is no easy task. But Tonk listened to his rider and belied his instincts. Bolster stated, "I bent down, screamed and yelled, but the bear was growling and snarling and staying very focused on Scout.

 

"As it tried to circle back toward Scout, I realized I had to get Tonk to square off and face the bear. We had to get the bear to acknowledge us.

 

"We did. We got its attention - and the bear charged.

 

"So I charged at the bear."

 

In a strange game of Chicken, bear and horse bounded towards one another. About 10 feet apart, the bear gave in and veered off. He came back around only to find Tonk and Bolster still there, still keeping themselves between the Grizzly and Scout, along with his eight-year old rider, who had fallen into soft grass. That was enough for the bear. A ton of horseflesh and huge pounding hooves was too much meal, apparently, so off into the woods went the bear, leaving everyone shaking but ok.

 

Bolster picked the boy up and put him on Tonk with her,  grabbed Scout's reins and headed back to the barn. "The boy was in shock," she said. "I looked back and could see the bear had continued to go away through the woods, but I had another five or ten minutes of riding before I got back with the group." Once arrived safely, Bolster says, "I looked at Tonk, and he was wet with sweat and shaking, too."

 

The fact that a horse did what Tonk did is absolutely amazing to say the least. Most horses would have completely ignored the puny human on their back or digging heels in their ribs, and run for safety. Bolster agrees. "Some of the horses I've ridden would have absolutely refused to do what Tonk did; others would have thrown me off in the process. Some horses can never overcome their flight-animal instinct to run away."

 

Once all was said and done, Bolster received a wonderful tip from the boy's father and got herself a new horse. After such a display of bravery, Bolster wasn't about to return Tonk to Wyoming, so she purchased him. And in October, they appeared together on the David Letterman Show in New York City.