Mounted search and rescue

[ALLEN SNYDER <allendana1@sbcglobal.net>]

Yes, Una, we live in the Kansas City metro area, but I joined the nearest Sherriff's posse I could find which was about 1 1/2 hours away in Topeka, KS.  The way I located the Shawnee County Sherriff's posse was though MSAR's list as there seem to be no other mounted units in Kansas except possibly one in Salina several hours away.  The KC, MO police dept. has a mounted unit, but I did not get the impression they wanted to include civilian volunteers at this time.

 

SNSO has an excellent 40 hour certification course affered each year which is bombproofing or they call it "stimulus training" for horse and rider to become certified as a mounted team.  We are expected to serve at several community events a year such as parades or parking lot patrol during the holidays to raise funds for uniforms and equipment.  The members are a mix of men and women who are very helpful with good camaraderie that is encouraged by all the trainers, esp. Chris Crawford and his wife Alisa as well as Capt. Shane Hoobler.  There are about 30 members and I am proud to be one of them who completed the training recently. 

 

This group meets several times a year to refresh parade skills and/or formation riding helpful for search work if we would be requested to assist the Sherriff's dept.  Some members of SNSO are interested in SAR work, but the ES and Sherriff's depts. are not always aware or do not think about us as a resource. 

 

Thanks for everyone's help and recommending the book, Bombproofing Your Horse, by Sgt. Rick Pelicano.  My now 22 yo Thoroughbred has surprised us both with his willingness to learn new skills and tolerate noises, flares and such if I stay calm and the matter of fact way the training is presented. 

 

Sincerely, Dana

 

Una Smith <una.smith@att.net> wrote:

> Dana Snyder wrote:
> >What are the steps needed to register with the state? I understand it
> >would vary, but is our local Emergency Manager the place to start?
>
> In some states, yes. Georgia and Indiana are states where the county
> Emergency Manager is the point of contact for SAR. In many other states
> each county has a person designated as SAR coordinator but often it is
> a deputy in the Sheriff's Office and generally the deputy does not have
> special expertise or training in emergency management. In still more
> states, the arrangements are highly variable and subject to change from
> year to year; in these states the top SAR units tend to be independent
> regional organizations.
>
>
> >I assume that mounted Sherriff's posse units are already
>  registered,
> >but let me know if not. 
>
> Dana, you are in Kansas, yes? As far as I know, as yet Kansas has no
> state entity with which to register.
>
> In New Mexico there is a state SAR Office, with legal authority for SAR
> throughout the state. Less than half of the county sheriff's posse
> groups I know exist are registered with the SAR Office, yet some of the
> unregistered groups think they "do SAR". They sometimes turn out for
> missions in their counties, as spontaneous volunteers, at which point
> sometimes it happens that they become aware of the state SAR system and
> follow the steps necessary to become registered and get in the loop.
>
> Una Smith
> New Mexico
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