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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] CAP proposal

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: MSAR Maintainer <msar@ibiblio.org>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] CAP proposal
  • Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:47:41 -0400


[I added line ends and deleted unrelated quoted text. --Una]

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 11:39:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jim Green, muleequestrian at yahoo dot com

To Chris Pennington c/o Big Bear Sherrif's Posse,

I'll need a snail mail address to send you a copy of the MSAR
proposal. This thing's about 25 pages long, and I have no way to
scan it into a computer. ( I'm too cheap to buy one... rather
buy horse gear instead ). Also check NASAR's website for a
couple books by Kathy Roberts. She's an excellent reference to
getting started/organizing an MSAR team. She gave our unit
permission to use her material as a training guide, provided we
don't profit from it. It took about a year to get our unit
going, with the biggest obstacle being utilized by the Civil Air
Patrol chain of command.
I had to put together a power point to present to the big
wheels to get them to understand that with all their airplanes
and fancy gadgets, they really did need us. Nobody wants to go
out on a limb and try new stuff. The most important advice I can
give to anybody wanting to start an MSAR team, is to work hard
to weed out the " Cowboy " mentality in any of your potential
members. I've had quite a few characters to contend with. Not
wanting to wear the uniform, not go through proper training,
etc. This will kill your project quickly if you can't present a
professional, SAFETY minded appearance.
CAP is big on the safety issue, and I don't blame them. One
hot-dogger on the MSAR team can sour the powers that be on the
whole idea of MSAR. Think about it... an incident cdr. already
has enough pressure on him/her to prosecute the mission. Add to
this the fact you have 900 - 1200 lb animals running around in
the field... it's sort of scary to the folks who know little
about horses, other than the crap they see on TV.
Above all else - train, train, train!!! If you have something
that spooks your animal, work it out of them. Anything you do to
reduce the liability of fielding horses on a search is going to
benefit you. Any one of us who puts an MSAR team in the field,
offers something unique to the authorities... speed, extended
range, and brute strength. OOOPS! I didn't mean to preach. Just
adding some thoughts about stuff I had to put up with getting
started. --- Jim





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