Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>]

Richard Judd wrote:
>How do you handle a qualified member that is unable to
>deploy with that horse and wants to use another member's
>qualified horse?

The ASTM task group writing a minimum training standard
for MSAR discussed this very issue at great length.  From
that discussion, two general approaches emerged:

1.  Do not allow this.  Instead, recommend that members
prepare for this situation by cross-qualifying on one
another's horses.  All parties being amenable to sharing,
of course.

2.  Make an operational decision to allow an unqualified
pair of horse and rider, when both horse and rider have
qualified as members of another pair, and when it is
management's opinion that the new, untried pair would be
a suitable pair.

The task group chose to recommend approach #1, as being
far less subjective than #2.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico