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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Re: air scenting

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "wwfarm" <wwfarm@wiktel.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Re: air scenting
  • Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 15:37:06 -0700

This post is to answer some questions that were asked about Air Scenting
Horses.
The air scenting horse works better than words can describe. The great part
about it is that the horses really enjoy it and they can learn it easily.
Really this is nothing new , it seems that modern day horse men have all but
forgotten about the horses scenting ability. When reading history there are
examples where they tell how the horses scenting ability helped alarm early
pioneers when danger was near. They also used the horses scenting ability
for hunting, just the other day I was reading about Teddy Roosevelt and how
he used the horses air scenting abilities to find buffalo. Now days some
modern ranchers use the scenting ability of their horses to help them find
cattle.
What is new however is that I have figured out a training program for
training horses to air scent humans for SAR.

You asked - 1. How do horses compare to dogs - Last winter I contacted
four experts in the field of how humans and animals smell. I asked them to
compare a dog to a horse. First they all said that there has been very
little study done on mammals. How they smell has a lot to do with olfactory
receptors and space where they are located. Second - Three out of four
experts said
that in their estimation the dog and horse should be equal in their
smelling ability. The fourth came back and said that the horse could have a
advantage over the dog.

I have done my own test to compare dogs and horses scenting ability. The
average distance that the air scenting animal can pick up scent and follow
it to its source under ideal conditions - This is a hard category to
compare because changes in environmental conditions can vary the outcome.
When researching this category I talked to several well known and
experienced air scenting dog handlers from across the USA as well as using
my own dog in the test. Although documented information on this subject
seems to be scarce, my research has shown that at this point on the average
the dog and horse seem to be equal. In tests my horse has picked up and
followed scent to its source from over a 1/4 mile distance away in a
consistent manner. On an
actual search I picked up scent and followed it to its source from a
distance of 1/2 mile under ideal conditions.

You also asked - . Is air scenting a sufficiently valuable skill (compared
to
> scent tracking or other SAR skills), that it is worth a major
> investment of training time?
When discussing scent work, the first thing that always comes to everyone's
mind is the bloodhound, which is a tracking dog. The second thing that
people think of is that you have to show the dog a piece of clothing then
the dog goes out and finds the missing person, right? This perspective
comes from
movies and TV. In real life search and rescue no one single search tool
works 100% of the time. The tracking dog search tool is great when they
work but they seldom work as good as you see on TV. One well known search
where it is
well documented that the tracking dogs did not work was on the Arkansas
Search for Haley. The tracking and trailing dogs are very limited to when
and how long they can search because the scent they follow is usually aged
and is very susceptible to deterioration from time, temperature, other
weather conditions and cross contamination.

As a rule on almost every search a variety of search tools are needed
for a successful search. The Air Scenting Horse is a very valuable search
tool when ever you have to expand your search area which is most of the
time.
There are many advantages of using air scenting as a search tool which are
known world wide but it would take up to much time and space to list them
here.
Comparing the Air Scenting Horse to the Air Scenting Dog - Speaking from
personal experience they both are excellent search tools under different
conditions. But if you have a large area to search in a short time I'll take
the horse and leave my certified air scenting dog at my trailer until I get
into terrain where my horse can not go.

Terry Nowacki









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