Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

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

msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Mounted search and rescue

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Re: air scenting
  • Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 22:56:36 -0700


----- Original Message -----
From: "wwfarm" <wwfarm@wiktel.com>
> 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.

Thanks for sharing, Terry. I find the responses from experts interesting.
The horse as a prey animal would presumably have a good nose to assist in
survival. The dog as a predator might have a good nose for hunting ... again
a survival issue. Obviously some dog breeds/types have better noses than
others, with some specifically bred to encourage that nose.

The horse's ability to scent isn't something most people worry about, and
certainly haven't bred to encourage. Yet the better nose could be related to
survival. That got me wondering if perhaps the horse breeds that are closer
in their roots to living and surviving in the wild might have better
scenting potential than those that have been domesticated longer. Developing
that thought, the domesticated mustangs would presumably be better as SAR
air scent types, and something like a warmblood or draft breed would have
more limited abilities since the "need" hasn't been there to encourage the
use. Since the QH / Paint horse history includes crossing with mustangs 100
years ago, plus many are still used for gathering range cattle which would
encourage the nose, that might give the stockhorse type an air scent
advantage over the non-stockhorse breeds that have been established and
domesticated longer. Do you have any experience through your Air Scenting
Horse clinics that would suggest this speculation has some potential to be
true?

> As a rule on almost every search a variety of search tools are needed
> for a successful search. [...]

Yep. Particularly in more remote SAR having more cross-training and
versatility can make a huge difference to potentially saving someone's life.

> 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.

>From the SAR Management perspective, I see the Air Scenting Horse - a proven
search tool - being a valuable addition to the MSAR skill sets. Particularly
in a night search - or another situation with more limited visibility -
having a horse trained to communicate with the rider (and the rider trained
to listen to the horse!) can greatly improve the odds of finding the missing
person if in your search area.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
Tulare Co, CA
SAR, MSAR, Swiftwater Rescue, US&R,
Technical Rescue, Cave Rescue,
Hasty Team, ICP
www.CEOates.com/sar
Tulare-Kings CERT Program Coordinator
www.tk-cert.org





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page