Mounted search and rescue

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

On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 08:15:54AM -0700, E.S. wrote:
>where did you read about transport? forward it to me please if you can, 

E,

It is in unpublished Forest Service documents, which you can get by
calling your local FS office.  You'll likely need to be persistent,
because they may have to ask around quite a bit to locate a copy.

The other source is, as I mentioned, military manuals from the late
19th and early 20th century.  Those are in research libraries.

This is pretty much abandoned technology, and there are good reasons
why it has been abandoned.  Suitable use is limited.

Sure, you can put almost anybody on a good horse and lead them around 
for a few minutes.  I have been with an able-bodied novice rider who
got a 4 hour ride down a mountain on a dude string horse in rain.  She
and I rode;  the rest of the group walked.   The riding was a great
treat for me, but the other rider declared it terrifying and painful
and Never Again NO WAY.

So here's the deal, E.  You try doing it with a nonrider who is not 
in great shape on a bad trail for 4 or more hours.  If you do that
and tell me in detail how it goes, and you still want to train for
this, *then* I will get you personal copies of training materials I
can obtain.  

        Una Smith
        New Mexico