Mounted search and rescue

["IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>]

There are methods and plans from the California fires available from TLAER
and the AltoMoro Riding Club (check spelling but Yahoo or Google should find
the site).

In our area flooding and backyard horses are the problem.  We are embarking
on a plan to survey the extensive county and state parks in the region to
ascertain if we can set up receiving areas in these parks.  Our philosophy
is to pick up a trailer load (in our case up to 10 head in a non-commercial
rig) and keep them together in the same corral for the duration.  This will
make it easier to identify the animals (no brands around here) and should
keep herd conflict down as well as disease transmission.  The county EMA has
a request to provide 6 ft orange construction fence with drive posts every 6
feet, and rubber water tanks. We are working on electric string and battery
powered chargers. With a day's warning we should be able to fence in several
tens of 1 acre pens the parks using highway department and park personnel
and volunteers to drive the stakes and string wire in the fence. Depending
on the park's water supply we can use on site, drinking water tankers, or
fire apparatus to keep the corral tanks full. 

After it is all over we take down the fences and roll them up for next time
and the park tractors and the highway department tractors scrape the area
down for transfer to composting points already in existence for tree waste. 

That is the outline of the shelter plan.  The transport plan is next, since
many owners in this area share trailers or ride off their property. 

I realize that the horses deserve a chance, but sometimes all you can do is
cut the fences, plywood the cattle guards and pray. 

Irv Lichtenstein