Oregon Hikers

I saw this along the Lower Deschutes River trail last spring. Anyone know what it is?


It seems like it might have something to do with horses? Like some sort of scratching post?

brake pad from a railroad car?

that's what I've thought when walking past. There is other railroad stuff around there

I always thought it had something to do with horses or cows.

cattle brush/scratcher would be my guess - is it in rangeland?

https://youtu.be/u0z-jl78a5U

there are horses that ride along there

they're concerned about invasive weeds

walrus wrote: ↑

December 31st, 2021, 7:49 pm

cattle brush/scratcher would be my guess - is it in rangeland?

Used to be rangeland, now it's a state park.

I googled and found lots of simple cow/horse scratching posts, but nothing as big and elaborate as this.

I've pondered on that contraption myself, but I'd go for cow scratcher of the one of a kind sort cobbled together by a creative hand with a blowtorch. Years ago, that was seasonal range on public land, with fences and gates, but there's no cattle concession there any longer.

Free ranging horses might use it if it's high enough, but you'd have to unsaddle a trail horse and then convince it that it's not going to get molested by the strange "machine." That could take weeks of training! They'd rather rub against the upright posts, I think. Definitely not an invasive weed mitigation device!

something to do with railroads

Actually, it looks more like repurposed irrigation equipment (which also makes sense for the area). Top half of a pipe gate maybe?

Shoe brush for giants!