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  • From: "philip easley" <easleyranch@foothill.net>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] bylaws concerning use / exclusion of stud horses
  • Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 22:47:03 -0800

Though many folks only have one or two horses to pick from, I have around
fifty and we only use mares to breed and ride the geldings. Studs stay at
home. Unfortunately, not all folks have the luxury or burden of having
fifty to pick from. As long as the mare or gelding is controllable, which
all of mine are (We are strong rider and do not allow horses and mules to
get away with things). Well that was my two cents worth.
Philip Easley
Nevada County Sheriff's Department
Nevada City, Ca.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Una Smith" <una@lanl.gov>
To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 7:51 AM
Subject: Re: [MSAR] bylaws concerning use / exclusion of stud horses


> Okay, among the many differing points of view, I see some points
> of agreement.
>
> 1. Do not make exceptions to rules. If the rules don't work,
> or you don't like them, change the rules! Do not ignore them,
> break them, or make exceptions to them.
>
> 2. Bad behavior is not to be tolerated in a MSAR horse of any
> age, sex, or reproductive status. If the horse behaves badly or
> may be expected to behave badly, leave the horse at home on SAR
> mission or training days, or else expect to be sent back to base
> camp and/or home (possibly along with the rest of your team!).
>
> 3. Consider a unit rule to ban stallions and/or mares or any
> intact equine from any MSAR work. (FYI, spayed mares are fairly
> common in England.) Base this decision on factors such as the
> politics of the SAR management environment in which you serve,
> the horsemanship skills of your riders, and what situations you
> can expect to encounter during a mission.
>
> If you make good use of #1 and #2 above, you may never need #3.
>
> Yes, #3 sounds extreme. However, there are MSAR units and many
> mounted police units that allow only geldings. FWIW, my unit
> does not allow stallions, but other units we sometimes work with
> do allow them (or have made exceptions to their own no-stallion
> rule?), and it is very common for us to encounter large numbers
> (think many dozen) spontaneous volunteers on all kind of horses.
> It would be nice for us to be able to forget about the potential
> for horsey conflicts and fully engage in "tunnel vision" on the
> SAR job at hand. But we do not operate in such a universe! We
> do not tie our horses anywhere without considering if it is safe,
> and if it is likely to *stay* safe, and what might make it not
> safe, yadda yadda. It is important that our mares and geldings
> all will remain calm and well-mannered in the presence of studs
> or whatever. Which means we expose them to as much as possible
> in training situations.
>
> For those of you who have asked: I ride a mare, and I generally
> prefer mares to geldings. But I also choose to ride a mare with
> impeccable manners under saddle, on the ground, and when turned
> out with other horses.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Una Smith
> Santa Fe County Sheriff's Posse, in New Mexico
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>






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