Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una@lanl.gov>]

Jorene wrote:
>Una, I have to publicly say THANKS! for your sharing the 1921 photo
>from National Geographic. It was a serious jaw dropper
[...]
>definitely set the mood for "What ELSE can an MSAR team do?" !!!

You're welcome!


>(I don't recall where Una has it stored online

There is a whole page of thumbnails and linked higher-resolution
photos (http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/pix/), which serves as a
repository for high-quality digital projection visuals for talks.


>I had a very rewarding reception to my class on Effective Use of
>Mounted in SAR and Disasters 
[...]
>To my knowledge, the first of its kind in the country.

I gave essentially the same talk at our New Mexico state SAR
conference (ESCAPE) in May of this year.  For me it was also a
personally rewarding experience.  And better still, I learned
a lot:  I encouraged audience participation and once they got
into it we had some really interesting discussions.  Much like
MSAR-Riders!


>I already have some changes and additions in mind that would
>extend the 90 minute class to 2 hours.

Likewise.  The #1 comment I got was that my class was too short.
Everyone wanted more, more more:  more basic information, and
more technical information.  I am inclined to structure it as
two classes, intro and advanced.

Good visuals make a huge difference, in teaching non-horsemen
about the capabilities of MSAR resources.  People (including
many riders) who don't know all that much about horses simply
cannot hear or read words and imagine the correct pictures to
go with those words.  So my "want list" of photos is still
long:  see http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/pix/, the page bottom.
Send 'em in, folks!

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