Mounted search and rescue

["Laurie Hanahan" <lhanahan@mindspring.com>]

For quicker deployment response time, I borrowed protocol from my husband’s military service as part of a “rapid deployment force”.  I have grab bags (duffle bags) ready to go at all times, all packed seasonally.  I also keep several items of multi-seasonal clothes plus a  bag of cold weather gear and rain gear in the horse trailer at all times for sudden changes in weather conditions.  My trailer is stocked at all times with several days worth of food for both me and my horse (rotated out on a regular basis), water bottles, search packs, and tack are all stored in the trailer.  I keep a solar battery charger on the trailer so that the batteries stay charged up and ready for use.  All I need to do after receiving notice of a call out is make a quick phone call for home pet care if necessary, fill up water tanks in the trailer and bed of the truck with fresh water, hook up the trailer, load the horse and myself, and we’re ready to roll.  We can be rolling in less than an hour.

 

The big and medium sized Rubbermaid bins are great for storing things in your horse trailer.  Easy to label, easy to move around, stackable.  I had three rows of four tie hooks/rings installed on the dressing room wall of the first stall of my 3 horse slant trailer, installed a stud wall for the first stall so that stored items do not slide into the horse’s stall.  I can stack bins, keep grain/hay out of the horse’s reach, hang ropes, feed bags, chairs, manure rake, broom, portable fence charger/fencing, etc. along the wall.  I also  pre-bag daily rations of horse feed with the necessary supplements already measured in and keep them in a storage bin. 

 

The most important part of pre-loading your trailer is to remember to rotate horse/human feed on a regular basis if you don’t use it.  Since I also do some weekend camping, my stored feed gets rotated often. 

 

There are lots of things you can do to prepare for deployment so you can respond quickly.  Other suggestions/ideas?

 

Laurie Hanahan

TROTSAR