RE: [Philmont]: The Burro Issue

Phil,

A simple answer, and I can see your point, but there are treks that require
burros that have no similar alternative without burros. While you had a
good experience (and I'm glad to hear that you did) I have had countless
recommendations that suggest yours was remarkable. So many have suggested
we avoid burros, at all cost, that the boys aren't in favor of considering
one that includes them.

Wishful thinking here, but it would be nice to have alternative treks that
give you the option to take or not take burros, but still get all, or even
most, of the other aspects of that particular trek.

Joe Tavares

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Phil Brown
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 5:01 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: RE: [Philmont]: The Burro Issue

I see no problem with the required taking of the burro if it is part of the
itinerary. The only issue I see is that the policy was not clear when crews
selected treks for this year. Although it was stated in some of the
Philmont literature this year, we did not take time to read the fine print
in our haste to get the trek selection cards in the mail. A change of this
nature could have been highlighted a little better and maybe we could have
read the fine print a little more closely.

Now we all know and if you do not want to have a burro, select a trek that
does not include a burro. This should not be an issue for next year.

As for not enough burros, I heard nothing about this from the
wranglers/staff that we talked to. If there is a problem with the number of
burros, I am sure Philmont will either get more or reduce the number of
treks that have burros.

For our crew this year, I am glad they did not know of the rule about having
to take the burros. If they had, they might have not selected the trek that
they did. They selected 21 and were border line on taking the burro. They
had decided not to and then changed their mind by a 5-4 vote in favor of
taking the burro (the two adults did not vote) just after we arrived at
Philmont but before we found out in Logistics that we did not have that
choice. It turned out that the burro was a highlight of the trek. Everyone
enjoyed the experience and a group of city raised kids learned a few things
about handling animals (especially the second morning when the burro only
wanted to walk in the direction of Ponil and not towards Pueblano). When we
returned to base camp, many of our crew purchased the stuffed burros from
the Tooth of Time Traders which I think sums up their feeling on the burro
issue.

Phil Brown

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Joe Tavares
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 3:06 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: The Burro Issue

I spoke to one of my Adult Leaders tonight regarding the burro issue.
He
just returned from the PhilStaff Reunion and had some insight to offer.
All
of this, in a court of law, would be considered hearsay so take it for what
it's worth.

Apparently Mark Anderson truly wants the burros to be part of the Philmont
experience. He believes the burros are underutilized when the option to
waive their use is in effect and he wants to 1) make better use of the
creatures and 2) give that experience to the scouts.

According to what I understand, third-hand, the burro wranglers do not
believe the burros are underutilized. The principle reason is that they are
not optimally handled when they are in service and come back to the corral
worse for the wear. In a nutshell, there are some issues with how the
scouts blanket and cinch the saddlebags (is that right?) when they are in
service. The cinch is generally too loose and their hair gets rubbed the
wrong way, causing ingrown hairs. From there, the ingrown hairs become
saddle sores and at that point, all they can do with the burro is put him to
pasture until he recovers. Essentially, they claim to be very short on
burros by season's end *with* the right to waive burros in effect. So with
a full season of full usage, the burros will most likely be very scarce by
the end of the season (anyone recently encounter a shortage of burros?).

This disconnect between what Mark Anderson believes and what the wranglers
state is interesting. But regardless of that, the Philstaff folks discussed
and concluded that the only way Mark Anderson is going to back up on the
requirement to take a burro, if it is part of your itinerary, is if an
overwhelming amount of negative feedback comes from the crews regarding the
burro requirement. If everyone is ambiguous or no one puts their opinions
on surveys or in letters to Mark Anderson, next year and the following years
will probably have the burro requirement as the status quo.

Bottom line is communicating your experience with the burros to Mark
Anderson. No communication will probably be construed as an endorsement to
the requirement.

YIS

Joe Tavares
Richardson, TX
'00 (Wood Badge), '04 and looking forward to '06
 
 
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