Mounted search and rescue

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

Greetings, Halla!

Halla Kjartansdottir wrote:
>Is there any books that we can get information from on basic training
>and basic technique so that we can do things right from the beginning?

You ask this as a member of a ground SAR team, not someone who is new
to SAR.  I reply with that in mind.  Books about MSAR assume you know
nothing about SAR, and they are badly out of date.  I am sorry to say
that I cannot recommend any to you.  I can recommend searching the
archives of this list.  Over the years this list has had many detailed
discussions of air scenting, starting MSAR within established SAR teams,
etc.  Also, send Irv your postal address;  the CD he distributes free
has PDFs of some published articles.  One or two address air scenting.


>What are you looking for in a horse when looking for a scenting horse?
>And when do you start training scenting horses (icelandic horses are
>broken in 4-5 year old)?

This is a new thing everywhere, so there is not a huge amount of prior
knowledge.  For sure you want a horse that is "gamey".  In the western
US, some families of quarter horse are known to be especially good at
working cows, and that trait seems to lend itself well to air scenting.
My polo pony mare is very gamey.  A horse that enjoys fox hunting may
be an especially good choice, because used to traveling cross country.

Horses that are good at air scenting tend to be those raised out of
doors.  Best generally are those raised on big ranches or mustangs.

A little side story.  My mare is a retired polo pony who started off
as a promising prospect for MSAR.  She has a fast walk, obedient and
calm temperment, almost unflappable disposition, great work ethic,
etc.  She had no clue about trails, much less traveling cross country
off trails.  At the outset she would not step in a singletrack.  But
she learned.  To help her learn, I sent her on a ranch vacation for
a season.  She was turned out with other horses in a 100+ acre / 40+
hectare piece of land with hills, gullies, grass meadows, and water
holes.  There, she got practice navigating on her own, finding food,
finding water, finding other horses.  She has developed into a really
good SAR horse.

She has many times alerted me to cattle hiding in the brush.  During
one mock search in woods she alerted very intensely but I could not
see or hear anything.  So I blew my whistle, to attract anyone there.
I got no response.  I did a very cursory hasty search where my mare
seemed to be indicating, then made a report by radio.  At the end of
the day, the subjects told me they heard a whistle near them at the
time of my mare's alert, but instead of responding they ran in the
other direction because their instructions were to avoid being found
until later in the day.  We checked the map and our locations were
the same, so it was my whistle they heard.  (This is a small example
of why everyone should carry a notebook and write down the time and
location at which anything interesting happens.)  I have not trained
her to air scent;  for the training to be worthwhile I would need to
be far more active in SAR than I am able to be at this time.  Also,
my area has several very good dog SAR teams.

I think some dog training books are useful for training air scenting
horses.  If I were to go in this direction I would start by finding
out more about dog scent training books, and volunteer to work with
the SAR dog teams in the area.  They always need people to be search
subjects.

Some people have started horses in air scent training as yearlings,
but most of us intend to ride the horse and not all horses are suited
to MSAR.  Most of us start with older horses, and many MSAR units do
not allow use of horses younger than 4 or younger than 6.  Too many
young horses become upset by things we expose them to:  helicopters,
sirens, backpackers, cadavers, cross country travel in bad weather.

Even if you don't train your horse for air scenting, you still want a
horse that is scent aware.  One that is highly attentive to not only
scents, but also sights and sounds, yet is not highly reactive.  Not
spooky.  My polo pony mare is extremely attentive, to a fault:  she
likes to look all around.  If permitted, she will even swing her head
and neck around to stare at whatever interests her, going as fast as a
hand gallop.  In a polo game this rubbernecking[1] is dangerous, but
in a SAR horse I think it is a good trait, so as she is retired from
polo I give her free rein.

Best wishes to you in Iceland.  Please keep us posted on your work.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico

[1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rubbernecking