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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Hypothermia and horse sense/scents

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "Jeff Ezell" <eztech@pdq.net>
  • To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Hypothermia and horse sense/scents
  • Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:34:50 -0600

Irv,

Terry Nowacki has been in the forefront with horses.
http://www.airscentinghorse.com/press_coverage.htm

Don't you think the horse was alerting on scent? Or? I would think someone
with an internal temp of 74 wouldn't be moving much or making much noise. If
the scent is there for the horse to alert, why is it not there even for a
wilderness dog? I specified trailing dog which would pick up the scent
primarily from the ground (or the air) and could indeed follow a scent trail
downwind. A subject downwind from an air scenting horse or dog could be
easily missed riding along a trail. Right?

I think there is much yet for us to learn from using trained air scenting
horses. But an air scenting horse working along with a trailing dog could be
a really good 1-2 punch.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of irvin
lichtenstein
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 9:50 AM
To: Mounted search and rescue
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Hypothermia and horse sense/scents


The shortest route out is measured in time, not miles. I am not sure what
the lowest recorded internal temp was that was survived but 74 is very low.
When planning the evacuation of a casualty you look at how much time it will
take to reach the road or helispot or whatever. Having to wait for a boat
and make the transfers on either side adds time. If it was less time to
avoid the river crossing it should have been avoided. But then around here
traffic can be so bad that almost every traffic accident gets flown to keep
the transit time down to 20 minutes or less. We can often walk faster than
drive on an Interstate during rush hour, let alone after a lane closure.

The horse will alert-- the rider must read the alert properly. It is not
likely that a dog working in rain or snow that tends to hold the scent in
place would have picked up unless they were on top of the subject.

Irv Lichtenstein








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