Mounted search and rescue

[pennbo@bbv.net]

> .  My amazing SAR mare, who stands calmly while I
> unfold and flap a huge blue tarp from her back in a stiff wind,
> nonetheless refused to cross a blue tarp on the ground (in a
> place she knows is safe) until she had first carefully looked at
> it, sniffed it, and pawed it.

Which is very good self-preservation instinct! And acceptable from a horse
who has to keep themselves and you safe in new and unusual situations. <G>

>
> So, crossing a ground tarp simulates two types of field problem:
> (1) stepping on ground that looks strange and (2) stepping on
> something that is trappy.
>
> Perhaps we should make a list of steps we can take to make this
> training safer?
>
>         Una Smith
>         Santa Fe County Sheriff's Posse, in New Mexico
>

I agree that the above situations are valuable training but I believe there
must be a safer way to simulate them. In the instance that I related of the
horse flying around the corral with tarp attached to hoof- the tarp had been
strongly staked down. The tarp tore around the stakes. Perhaps what is called
for is a more heavy duty substance to put down- thick rubber, old carpet,
etc.  Old carpet might be a good choice as you can get it in different colors
and textures. As for stepping into downed fence etc the best training aide I
have found is an old garden hose or two. I put them coiled up on the ground
and we walk through them and around them, again and again. It is part of how
I train my horses to give to pressure instead of pulling from it. Could save
serious injury if ever tangled in barbed wire. They aren't perfect yet but we
are working on it! <G> (I have a friend whose stallion was tangled in some
wire that they didn't even know was in the way back pasture. When he didn't
come in for dinner they went looking. He had stayed perfectly still in the
middle of a large wire tangle for who knows how long! Nothing but a few
scratches! It pays to take the time to train this reflex in!)

There are many ways to train for the eventualites and potential situations
we'll find in our work. Rather than using what has always been done before I
think as a larger group, MSAR, we need to identify the potential hazards in
our training and elimnate them with careful thought. Training is just that-
it doesn't pay to injure or frighten a horse during training. If this happens
your job has just been seriously complicated. Undoing a justified fear, in a
horse's mind, takes serious committed work and sometimes can be quite
lengthy. If you have taught a horse systematically that walking over all
kinds of strange things on the ground (carpet, hose, water, cans, etc) is
safe then when you are in an actual situation they should respond calmly even
if they have never seen the exact substance before.

Together we can make our work better, more effective, and safer. If two
brains are better than one then we have a veritable genius level working on
this list! <G>

Chris Pennington
Big Bear MSAR