Mounted search and rescue

[pennbo@verizon.net]

As I expected the language used to tell others they are wrong has sparked an unhappy dialogue.  Irv, you are an experienced and talented search and rescue member but you are not the ONLY experienced and talented person on this list. You know YOUR area and YOUR state's requirements. Stop for a minute and think about how much you don't know. It's always humbling.

Ignorance IS curable with education but you must be willing to learn. Part of that education is to learn about the other standards and requirements some of us must operate under. While it is true that an agency may not randomly discriminate based JUST on disability it is also true that if there are requirements for safety that can not be met then NO ONE, disabled or not, has to be accepted at a volunteer at that position. 

Searchers in my region are given many standards we must meet- equipment, animals, skill levels, riding ability, animal's training, uniforms, etc. We have had some input into those standards but the final call is NOT our unit's. Those requirements/standards are getting tighter and tighter in a CYA response to accidents happening. While personally I would be tempted to put a side-saddle rider through their paces and see if the INDIVIDUAL could be a functioning searcher in most situations- it might not ever be my choice. I have known many fantastic trail horses that were exceptional ambassadors for their breeds but because they are stallions they may not participate in any search and rescue function in my area. Sometimes the general overall ability/funtion/possibility of a specific circumstance overrides the individual.

While searching in dangerous terrain we must concentrate totally on our own mount and our own circumstances- there really is no time to worry about a team members abilities. We actually recently discussed this as we are often assigned to mixed teams on mutual aid call-outs. On a mixed team we have NO idea about the other teams' abilities or weaknesses. I have a measure of confidence in riders that are from our region/county as we are trained to the same standards- and we can rely on that basic ability. Communication is key- but is not always honest. I would rather err on the safe side then to get a rider into a potentially fatal situation. Last week we rode some very rough terrain on a search. We had four members from another team with us that were not familiar with our area. There were several places in our search area that could be potentially VERY dangerous - soft narrow ledge trails above 400-600ft drops. We avoided those. BUT we rode some other very rough terrain because we had confidence that this team was trained to the same standard and could handle it. They did- quite well. We might have gone back to cover the ledge area later with members of our own team but the missing person was discovered first.

Which is to say if our standards included a side-saddle as equipment I'd welcome that person into my unit and not question their ability more than anyone elses! They don't currently include side-saddle and without being able to discuss the actual issue here openly and without flaming I won't have anything to add to any discussion that arises in the future. That's rather a loss.

Chris

 

 

On 05/25/13, irvin lichtenstein<ilichten1@verizon.net> wrote:

 

It is your unit’s responsibility to examine the assignments and provide feedback as to their appropriateness, doability, and safety for both searchers and mounts. If you do not routinely have members of your unit on the command staff to review plans and operations I hope your safety officer does when they are given to you to implement.

 

Ignorance is curable with education, failure to follow the law by discriminating against volunteers you can accommodate is also curable, with fines and debarment.

Anyone who is unwilling to learn is an impediment to furthering the cause of MSAR and SAR in general. The first drafts of the ASTM standards insisted on Western tack, as if any other style was not acceptable. The fact that many riders use other designs or even treeless saddles effectively took a while to get across, as did the concept that the tack should fit the horse. I do not reject another’s opinion out of hand, but they must support it with facts.

 

Since 1986 I have disqualified one applicant for style.  She wanted to ride bareback and was quite good in the ring, but went off a few times in the woods. Everybody else uses a saddle of some kind, with stirrups and a place to hang gear.   I have had friends with chronic diseases that rode well, even supervised trail building crews, but they had to be lifted onto their mount and usually rode gaited horses to ease back pain.  One laid out over 55 miles of public trails from the back of an Icelandic, as she was partially paralyzed. 

Irv Lichtenstein