msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Mounted search and rescue
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- From: "Irvin Lichtenstein " <ilichten1@verizon.net>
- To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's
- Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:47:02 -0400
You don’t train a horse to air
scent. As a prey animal the horse has a very developed sense of self
preservation. This includes fusing information from
sight, smell, hearing, even feeling. What a search rider has to do is
learn to read his horse. Search dogs need training because they are
being told to hunt without killing. As a predator a dog only has to be good
enough to catch enough to survive and domestic dogs
do this well enough. There are major differences between a
horse and a dog. The horse uses all his senses to classify the object he
has detected. This allows the horse to differentiate between
threats, between what is identified as of no interest, and what can safely be
ignored versus the search object. A horse will
detect whether an object has been moved, added, or subtracted from its
environment even if it hasn’t been there for a period of time. A dog
does not differentiate without extensive training and does not remember the
context of an area. Published anecdotal studies of this
behavior date back to 1986 in the East and probably before that in other areas.
You must also realize that the introduction of organized European style air scent dogs in
the East only dates back to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s with
the founding of Mid Atlantic Dogs in the Baltimore area and similar organizations in Regardless of claims by those who have
used published studies and reports of others you cannot train a horse to behave
naturally. Once you have bomb proofed a horse he is too ignorant of his surroundings to
be safe as a search horse. The basic principle of using a search horse is
a partnership. You protect each other on the trail. You are looking for clues, your
horse is looking out for you and the search subject(s). The worst thing
you can do is train a horse for this activity. You can educate your horse, you can develop mutual trust,
but a conditioned response is the last thing you want. Your horse should know that when the gear
goes on and you say it is time to go to work that he is working. And when
the gear isn’t on he is still working, because horses are always afraid
of being eaten by somebody and that alertness is what makes a search horse a
search horse. Many of those that now embrace this
practice once thought it was impossible to use a horse for anything but a ride
and that horses trampled clues and tracks. They embraced the idea because they
are mercenaries who sell their services to teach you something you already
know. Members of Southeast Pennsylvania Search and Rescue are often
amazed at how fast a green trail horse picks up that you want it to communicate
with the rider about its surroundings and how often this comes naturally.
We don’t have to teach air scenting to our mounts, but we do have to
teach communicating to our riders. It takes about one trail ride. Irv Lichtenstein Chief of Operations From:
msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of Jorene Downs |
-
[MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
ALLEN SNYDER, 03/16/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Irvin Lichtenstein , 03/16/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Jorene Downs, 03/17/2010
- Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's, David leadbetter, 03/17/2010
- Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's, Irvin Lichtenstein , 03/17/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Jorene Downs, 03/17/2010
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
pennbo, 03/17/2010
- Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's, Jorene Downs, 03/17/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Kerry Savee, 03/18/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Irvin Lichtenstein , 03/18/2010
- Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's, Kerry Savee, 03/18/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Irvin Lichtenstein , 03/18/2010
-
Re: [MSAR] Fw: Air Scenting Horse's,
Irvin Lichtenstein , 03/16/2010
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