Mounted search and rescue

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

Una Smith wrote:
>>>May I suggest investing in some riding lessons to further improve your 
>>>seat=3F>>

Sue Dolezal wrote:
>Una-
>
>Since you don't know me and I don't know you, this may not have come across 
>as you intended...however, my response could be overly sensitive after being 
>on the Black Crater fire for the last 4 days with very little sleep.

Sue, I did not intend to offend.  Nor to insinuate you don't know
how to ride.  You probably ride better than I do.  I don't race
barrels or bend poles.  If you are a USPA member you can look up
my polo handicap;  I am a beginner, nothing to brag about there.

I hope you are feeling more yourself now.


>Larger busted women, when wearing a communication harness with radios WILL 
>GET BOUNCE.

That is what I used to think, until a few women set me straight.
My problem was exactly yours:  too much extra stuff going up and
down on my chest.  But when I learned that my real problem was my
seat (however good it was then), I set out to fix it.  I worked
at it whenever I rode, and I made notes.  As I am sure you know,
it is good practice to keep a training log.  SAR canine handlers
should keep one for each of their dogs;  we MSAR folks should
keep one for each of our MSAR mounts;  and all SAR folks probably
should keep one for themselves.  The 50 hours I spent working on
my seat were not just lessons and drills:  a lot was conditioning
(for polo and SAR), riding for fun, guiding trail rides, and even
some mounted SAR missions.

Polo involves a lot of cantering and galloping, so I already had
a good seat in those gaits.  But my sitting trot was pretty bad.
It was a lot of hard work to fix, but worth it:  the result is so
much more comfortable for me, and probably also for my horse.

This may be Too Much Information for some here, but I will share
this story anyway, to illustrate that I do understand the bounce
problem.  After I learned how to stop bouncing, I rode sweep on a
20-mile leg of an endurance ride.  Not only was I "larger busted"
then, being at the time a nursing mother, but while I rode I wore
(and used) a pair of Whisperwear breast pumps.  They are shaped
like plump donuts, with batteries;  you stuff them into the front
of your bra and hang a bag below to collect the milk.  Even with
all that on board, I did not bounce.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico