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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Horsemanship and such / Mounted SAR to include ATV?

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Horsemanship and such / Mounted SAR to include ATV?
  • Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 18:06:30 -0700


----- Original Message ----- From: "irvin lichtenstein" <ilichten1@verizon.net>
The accident investigator was an NPS parkmedic, not me. When he says the
jogger was at fault I believe him. We often have idiots running down the
trail waving t-shirts, yelling and screaming, and hitting horses as well as
pushing at riders or trying to blindside the horse.

It sounds like the park law enforcement needs to be making some arrests to get the message across and restore a safe riding environment.

You cannot desensitize a mount to being hit, or bitten by a dog, or having
his rider grabbed so as to pull from the saddle. These are assaults and
require evasion and active defense. The horsemanship aspect is not avoiding
some idiot striking out at you, it is recovering afterward.

Actually, there is training very well suited for the kind of environment you apparently ride in. For example, someone attempting to attack the rider or horse is likely to back off if the horse is - under the direction of the rider - moving into the space of the nearby attacker. (Sidepass, pivot on the fore or hind, etc.) The attacker must retreat or get stepped on / knocked over by the horse. With your size XL horse you have an even better advantage if you know how to perform the maneuvers, because sheer size will intimidate. And if someone appears to be intent on pulling a rider from the saddle there are defensive maneuvers from the saddle to repel the attacker.

Ask any experienced Mounted Police officer with mounted riot control training about defensive riding techniques, then find a local source for training. Also learn the legal aspects of self defense while mounted. This does require additional training for both horse and rider. Desensitization and better horsemanship skills are required - more than what you'd normally find in MSAR.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
Tulare Co SAR - Hasty Team ICP Team
www.ceoates.com/sar
Tulare-Kings CERT
www.tk-cert.org






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