Mounted search and rescue

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

Lois Guyon wrote:
>The Mounted training in KY cost $275 with or without a horse

Did that $275 include the student's own meals and lodging?


>Those who brought horses were given a large covered stall.
>They brought their own bedding, feed, etc.

And did their own chores.  On the western polo club circuit,
perhaps others too, that is a "dry stall".  For these stalls,
polo clubs charge a lot but county rodeo/fair grounds usually
charge no more than $10 per horse per night.


>The company who put on the training has been in the police
>training business for some time,

Yes.  That appears to be a far larger market than MSAR;  so
many towns and cities have salaried mounted police patrols.


>but I think this may have been their first search and rescue
>venture.

It is the first, as far as I know.


>The course resulted in a certificate but not linked to any
>particular standard.

Not even ICS-100?


>They modified their course mid-stream based on the level of
>experience they found in their students.

Well, they harvested e-mail addresses from the web archive of
MSAR-Riders (perhaps also MSAR-ASTM?), and blurbs about the
course were posted on MSAR-Riders, so I would expect the level
of experience of the students to be high.

I don't mean to scare off for-profit training providers, by
the way.  On the contrary, I wish they would delurk and talk
to us, share a little with us in return for being given the
opportunity to gather all the valuable information we share
for free.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico