Mounted search and rescue

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

Lila Corey wrote:
>                        My horse has ALWAYS from the day I got him 
>let me know if he smelled a human - at first I thought it was weird. 

Lila, your horse sounds like a natural for use as an air scenting
SAR horse.  Get into some mock searches with him, even if they are
as simple as scheduling a trail ride and asking a volunteer to sit
behind a bush somewhere along the trail.  Ask them to pick their
own spot, preferably on the upwind side of the trail, where they
can see horses approaching on the trail.   Have the volunteer
write down which horses make eye contact with the volunteer, any
alerts the volunteer sees the horses make, if the human riders on
those horses notice the alert or see the volunteer too, and the 
time.  If possible, have more than one volunteer doing this.  The
volunteers do not need to stay in one place the whole time.

Instruct the riders simply to ride down the trail one by one and
write down the time, location and brief description of any people
they see.  This is good training for MSAR;  all MSAR riders not
only should always have a method at hand to make notes, but also
make use of it.  This teaches important habits: noting the time,
current position awareness, writing on horseback (or dismounting
if necessary), observation, description.

At the end of the ride, collate data gathered from each rider's
notebook, and compare with the volunteer's notes.  

Volunteers should have a map of the trail and mark on it where 
they position themselves.  Riders can be given maps too, but if you
like you can just tell them where to meet and see if any of them
bring a map.  Even if the rider cannot give the location, using the
time of the rider's note gives an approximate location on the trail,
if the rider also notes the time they start and finish.  Beginners
should manage to record which side of the trail the person is on.
More experienced riders will be able to record exactly where on the
trail (distance from start or a landmark along the way, coordinates
if the map has them), how far from the trail, etc.  Lying down,
seated, standing, walking, etc.  Responsive or not.  Etc.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico