Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una@lanl.gov>]

Hello MSAR riders,

A good 6 inches of snow fell here yesterday, which reminds me to
ask you all about training horses and riders to travel in snow.
My own experience riding in snow is limited (although I do ride
all winter, regardless of condition, unlike most people I know).

We can expect to be called out to search in snow up to 12 inches.
In fact, we have been called out in this situation once already
this year, but by the time we got on site the snow had melted to
just a few inches.  Up to that depth, horses should travel a lot
faster than people on foot and probably faster than people on
snowshoes.  But what is the maximum depth of snow that an MSAR
team can reasonably hope to deal with effectively?  How much does
this depend on the condition of the snow?  For instance, powder
is the rule in New Mexico, but in the northeast US the rule is a
hard crust of ice. 

What particular training issues does snow present for you?  Some
members of my unit say certain of their (ranch-bred) horses are
safe to ride down steep slopes in snow.  If the horse starts to
slide, it calmly spraddles and squats on its rump until the slide
ends.  My mare probably has no clue how to travel in deep snow,
and I doubt she is alone.  So we should do some training to teach
our horses about snow, and to learn for ourselves what to expect
from our horses.

Oh, by the way, it is common for us to ride where there are no
roads or trails, perhaps even no animal paths.  So being able to
see the trail under the snow is a non-issue for us.

        Una Smith
        Santa Fe County Sheriff's Posse, in northern New Mexico