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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Horsemanship

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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  • From: "Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Horsemanship
  • Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:54:10 -0700

Excellent food for thought, Terry. Folks often think of moving the horse forwards or backwards, and neglect lateral movement. This means of the basic 4 directions the rider only has control in 2 of those directions. Safety is compromised if rider control is lacking in sideways movement. There are some MSAR riders who don't have the skills, and don't understand why it is a safety issue, but demonstrating lateral movement is a common expectation in Novice Trail classes, 4-H, etc. Being able to reverse direction without needing to swing wide and do a U turn is also invaluable for getting out of tight places. Fundamental good horsemanship should be a part of every MSAR team's requirements.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jorene Downs
www.ceoates.com/msar

----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Nowacki" <wwfarm@wiktel.com>
Horsemanship, Body Control and Safety
The key to success in the above for the most part lies in basic
horsemanship. For the above topics, the horsemanship skills needed
is total horse body control by installing buttons for independent body part
lateral movements. If your horses do not side pass, half pass,
pivot on their hind or front quarters, you are not in total control of
your mount while you are doing SAR, crowd control, or riding in
a parade. If you do not have total control of your horse you could
very well be jeopardizing your mission and the safety of yourself or others.
Many times by using lateral movement buttons correctly you can even
change or lesson your horses mind from worrying about a potential threat on
one side of the horse by getting the horses brain to concentrate more on the
opposite, non threating side, simple by using a lateral leg cue. [...]
After visiting with many MSAR across the US, I can tell you that there is a good number
of people that are not for MSAR testing obstacles like opening gates, lateral movements,
etc. I belive they mistakenly view these test/ obstacles as non important to MSAR. Test such
as opening gates, using lateral control, turning in a small boxs with out touching the sides
are all horsemanship test designed to see if total body control can be achieved. The nation
wide 4-H program uses tests or obstacles such as these to test basic horsemanship skills of
children in the first or second grade and up. These same test can serve an important purpose
in MSAR. They could help to improve the safety of the riders, their horses, others and can
even improve the searching position/ability of the rider.[...]
Just maybe, the recent discussions about the MSAR tragedy and controlling
horses in traffic conditions are a wake up call for more MSAR groups to look
seriously in to the benefits of testing or training for more traditional horsemanship skills.

Food for thought.






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