Mounted search and rescue

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

Lynn Brown wrote:
>Even  if they know SAR it does not mean they know Mounted SAR .
>and if they know  horses, it does not mean they know Mounted SAR .

In all fairness, prior to MSAR-Riders coming into existence, the
written authority on MSAR was Kathy Brown's book.  The book is
a compendium of material she gathered from existing MSAR units.
And most of that material is straight Mounted Patrol with minor
police content (re crime scenes, etc.).  That tells me that, at
least until recently, many experienced MSAR folks are not aware
of the full scope of MSAR beyond mounted patrol.

At this point, I would not spend time or money on MSAR training
offered by anyone not a member of MSAR-Riders.  I *would* spend
time and money to attend any trainings offered by many of the
frequent posters on MSAR-Riders.  In fact, I have spent many
days and hundreds (thousands?) of dollars on *field* training
with Ian Vowles, Terry Nowacki, and Tomi` Finkle, among others.

I would not go out of my way to attend a classroom training with
any of the above notables;  I expect them to give it away free
to everyone, right here on MSAR-Riders, just as I do.  That is
also why I do not promote myself as a SAR conference instructor.
(I am approached by conference organizers on a regular basis.)

I might invest in a mounted patrol or mounted police course, if
only to see if these specialists have anything new to teach me
that I can transfer to MSAR.  But I would expect the instructor 
to be a career professional police instructor.  In the US, that
usually means a certified POST instructor.


>As someone who is very interested in becoming involved in MSAR, and  joined 
>this list to learn more about HOW to do so, I'd love to know if there's a  
>website or links to aid someone in checking out credentials,

A google search of our MSAR-Riders web archive would be useful.
Here is a sample Google Advanced Search query:

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=instructor&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=MSAR-Riders&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=lists.ibiblio.org&as_rights=&safe=images


>to find out more about training going on in different areas.

Keep an eye on http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/events/, but also get
to know the other MSAR units (and SAR units) in your area.  See
http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/units for links to the webpages of
several hundred MSAR units.


>to know if there's a list of MSAR books to read

See http://www.ibiblio.org/msar/, bottom of the main page, for
a Recommended Reading list.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico