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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Drone desensitizing

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Laurie Hanahan <lhanahan@mindspring.com>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Drone desensitizing
  • Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2015 12:22:14 -0500

Irv,

Thanks for the extensive info re drone use.  Very helpful.

When I refer to desensitization, I intend to train a horse not to overreact
to a new stimulus but to remain in control.  Of course a horse will alert or
react to everything they encounter or we wouldn't be using them in MSAR.  I
think the generic idea with desensitization is to not create a dead horse,
which obviously is not to anyone's benefit, but rather a sensible horse with
appropriate/safe reactions to a new stimulus.

Please excuse my use of the incorrect terminology if that is the case.

Laurie

On Dec 16, 2015 12:06 PM, irvin lichtenstein <ilichten1@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> There are several points raised in this discussion:
> With regard to drone operations:
> First, in the US all non-commercial drones have to have tail numbers
> assigned at time of sale
> And all existing drones will have to be registered by the owner over the
> next 30 days or so.
> The FAA is doing this on-line and the fee is $5 for a 3 year certificate.
> The operator must read
> the drone rules and have liability insurance of some kind to complete the
> process.
>
> Second, US regulations designate areas where drones cannot be flown without
> a special use
> permit. Besides staying under a height above ground limit, usually 400
> feet,
> they cannot be flown
> over public assemblies (sports events, parades, camp grounds) or other
> large
> groups of people.
> Operation in or near the flight paths of manned aircraft, over most
> government
> occupied buildings, schools, hospitals or medical facilities,
> transportation
> facilities, and other
> restricted areas is forbidden. Since taking pictures of lots of stuff is
> forbidden by the Patriot Act
> there are really very few places where a drone can be flown legally. 
> Most public recreational areas ban RC aircraft now and it is likely these
> bans will be expanded.
> (Valley Forge National Historic Park has an RC allowed area in a large
> meadow away from
> everything else in the Park that is the only one I know of in the PA-NJ-DE
> area parks.)
>
> Third, commercial use of a drone currently requires a special use permit
> from the FAA and must conform
> to local statute if more restrictive, such as using cameras or infrared
> sensors for surveillance.
> Use of a drone to monitor stock on the range, make promotional videos, drop
> stuff without landing
> (which is even forbidden for manned aircraft), or provide a contracted
> service is considered
> commercial operation.  Unless the drone is actually registered to the SAR
> organization it might
> be considered commercial operation to have some third party operate it for
> you. 
>
> Violation of the rules is a US federal offense as well as a state, county,
> or municipal offense and some serious
> penalties can result. Buzzing a person could be charged as assault for
> instance and the operator also be held
> civilly responsible for damages and still face federal charges for improper
> operation of the drone. In PA buzzing
> a search horse is a felony by the way and restitution is mandated.
>
> Desensitizing:
> I have never favored desensitizing a horse.  A horse can be educated as to
> what a noise is, what a drone is,
> and what  the expected reaction is.  You never want the horse to ignore
> anything in the field.  Depending
> on what it is you may want just an alert, or you may want a drastic
> automatic reaction.  This is not necessarily
> easy for the rider.  You have to trust the horse and be able to communicate
> with your mount.  While I may not want
> my horse to react strongly to a drone I do want him to detect its presence
> and communicate it to me. I may want
> him to stand in the presence of drones, vehicles, bicycles, some animals,
> and just give me a little warning if we
> are departing the area due gunfire, really bad predators (like bears), or
> other dangers where being a short distance
> away is good idea.
>
> Horse are prey animals. It is that alertness and the ability of the horse
> to
> fuse inputs from all his senses and identify
> what he is detecting that makes him a useful search partner.  Desensitized
> horses are useless except as transportation
> and may actually be dead horses if they don't pay attention to their
> environment.
> Irv Lichtenstein
> SEPASAR
> www.sepasar.net
> ilichten1@verizon.net
>
>
>
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