Mounted search and rescue

["Jorene Downs" <Jorene@CEOates.com>]

Selecting Hasty Team resources for land SAR can be very specific to the incident. Vehicle accessibility, how challenging is the terrain, what kind of visibility does the searcher have, etc., are all taken into consideration.

 

For example …

·         Can you even get a horse trailer to that location and/or is there adequate parking? (A solution to the “adequate parking” may be staging trailers elsewhere, then having a driver drop off horses and searchers as requested for deployment.)

·         The terrain and environment may / may not be safe for mounted riders.

·         An area with a fairly clear view can be searched more quickly than an area where there are substantial obstructions to the searcher’s view. Some search areas may have trees where the rider is constantly ducking under branches instead of actually searching … and sending other personnel to that search area may make more sense.

 

I agree that unless an MSAR rider is trained in tracking and following  granny tracks, a working walk or jog/trot is a more successful speed for actual searching even in more open terrain. At a faster speed you’re mostly limited to looking for a person, not clues. But if there are very limited trails in that vicinity, MSAR is a great choice for more quickly “preliminary clearing” trails for the potential of finding the subject on or very near the trail. (Adjust as needed for different environments.) But also consider If the search area *starts* 10 miles beyond where vehicles can access, MSAR Hasty might be asked to expedite travel until they are closer to the designated search area.

 

The role of the Hasty Team isn’t just to find the person, but to find clues to determine direction of travel, etc., with those clues hopefully leading to the find.  Often Hasty Team personnel have additional skills that include more training and experience as trackers, may have a higher level of medical training, run a SAR dog, etc.  I’d prefer to see the mounted folks responding as Hasty Team personnel have solid training as searchers, have more than nominal tracking training, be trained to transport in the saddle, etc. 

 

A crucial issue for any Hasty Team response is how quickly you can get to the location. Everyone has potential for travel delays, so the key is being prepared to depart quickly. As a general estimate I’d think if you can’t be out the driveway hauling the horse in about 30 minutes you may not be considered for Hasty Team.

 

To accomplish this, folks hauling horse trailers need to have gear already loaded so essentially all that needs to go in is the horse. Always keep fresh water and feed in the trailer along with the clean tack, first aid, personal gear, etc.  Refill and rotate supplies as needed, and re-pack as fast as the laundry is done immediately after returning from the last incident.  Be prepared for at least 24 hours self-sufficient, with potential to expand to 72 hours. Most folks I know keep SAR gear in a closed storage tub or two in the truck or in the trailer, and some keep marked tubs immediately accessible in the garage to toss in the rig and go … but this 2^nd option also means if you’re off horse camping you can’t simply respond because your SAR gear is back at the house.  (We’ve had incidents where MSAR personnel were horse camping / training and activated locally – they were able to start searching per phone instructions before incident command even arrived on scene.)

 

I also suggest keeping the horse fairly clean so you don’t need 30 minutes of grooming just to start tacking up. Non-riders tend to ask “Why does MSAR take so long to get ready?” so it helps the MSAR image if riders are prepared to ride rather soon after arrival. ;-)

 

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Jorene Downs

SAR & CERT

Mounted SAR

www.ceoates.com/msar