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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>
  • To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [MSAR] Despooking horses
  • Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 15:10:07 -0400

[Deleted HTML duplicate, clarified attribution of quotes. -Una]


Lois Guyon wrote:
>> I know some of you train with the ground units and dogs, but
>>what about relating to the CAP and others?

Una Smith wrote:
[...]
>New Mexico SAR field teams see far more helicopters. They may
>land and take off from a staging area that includes horses,
[...]

Something that you may want to try on your horse at home to despook it from
loud noise and blowing wind is using a leaf blower. Put newspapers on the
ground and blow them around. It provides the wind and the noise and debris
and you can use it to help desensatize the animal. We start out with the
horses loose in a small pen and just turn the thing on and blow it at
them...on a hot day like today, 105 high humidity in the shade... it gets
their curiousity up and they will eventually come up to the fence line to
stick their noses in the breeze! Of course, leaving the animals out on
paster 24/7 helps in all kinds of weather!

For flag breaking, we take white bedsheets for a mock flag, but before it
is ever on a pole we sack the horses out with it. we will sack with a
plastic garbage bag too. This gets them used to the crinkle noise and the
flag flapping them in the face. Nothing like a wind to sock the flag around
your mounts face where he can't see or worse yet were you can't see. We
train parade mounts and there is nothing worse than parade mounts causing a
scuffle especially when you are supposed to be an organized group.
Flag training is a difficult task as if you have a mount that is schooled
in dressage it can work either for you or against you on the slightest cue
and rule number one, you are top heavy and will go overbackwards on a slipup
in carrying a flag so it is best to to school the animals where you have soft
footing, either mud or sand, but either way, ground is hard. Never tie the
flag to the saddle or your person. Always use a flag cup. If you drop the
flag it will fall backwards as gravity will take it that way and pull it out
of the cup. You can also set up flags in an arena like you would for a pole
bending course and ride the horse around the flopping flags prior to carrying
the flag on the horse.

We train our horses to work around large farm machinery...combines,
tractors, mowers, spreaders and the like. they get used to the noise and the
dirt flying...
Get them used to the sound of sirens and if you have a buddy with a semi,
work then ride next to it and have him blow his horn a few times to get the
animals used to it. I am fortunate enough to live on a highway where my
front yard is close enough to passing traffic...we can easily get animals
used to this without hitting the road. we also have the railway tracks
nearby and our horses could care less about the horns on them.

Gun breaking...a starter gun (a special gun for starting races that shoots
blanks) makes a nice noise and can get the animal used to the powder smell.
Bubble wrap twisted in your hands up by the horses ears is a great training
aid. Grooming the horse with krinkle noisy plastic paper is a supper aid.

We rope train as well, practicing using a lariet to rope the horses in a
round pen. it gets them used to flyiing objects. Another good training aid
is a frisbee. We get the animals used to longing and can get the animals to
the point were on the longe a second trainers aid will try to throw the
frisbee between the horses legs while it goes on the long. Not trying to hit
the horse of course, but if it does, it is never thrown hard enough to hurt
them. Throw it over and under. You cannot do this in a round pen so a
fenced in pasture is required. You may want to wrap your horses legs at
first until you get proficient at your throws!

Dog training or getting horses used to dogs sometimes can be tricky. Dogs
can hold the most unpleasant surpises for horses and a lot of horses will
retaliate on the dog and viceversa....both animals react to smells and
desensitising to orders can be tricky. Training aids can be the canned
scents hinters used to attrack or detract wildlife. Serious accidents can
happen if a horse is not used to the smells of the unusual or of its natural
predators and also in decomp oders. Horses can detect certain oders over a
half mile away if the wind is right. And if the wind is wrong yo could be on
top of the oder and your horse freak out before you realize it. Letting the
animals sniff rags with oders in them helps.

In training, we always want to take advantage of the horses natural
curiousities and fears. Never causing harm whenever possible.

Most "wonderful" surprises are those huge helium inflated giant cartoon
balloons you will see in the big city parades. There is nothign that will
get the horse schoolded for that or a helicopter unless you have the REAL
thing. But the more you can throw at the horse in the line of noise,
flopping objects and "boo" material, the more you will BOMB proof him for his
duties.

We like to take our time with the young stock before ever stepping
aboard...by the tiem we do, they usually ride off unscathed and no bucking.
And a word about buck...don't let it start and you will not have to deal with
it.

Karen Nesbitt
Illinois - Unaffiliated
Iroquois County -
spanishequines@yahoo.com
==================================================
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-John F. Kennedy (JFK)






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