Mounted search and rescue

[Laurie Hanahan <lhanahan@mindspring.com>]

Irv,

Thanks for the extensive info re drone use.  Very helpful.

When I refer to desensitization, I intend to train a horse not to overreact 
to a new stimulus but to remain in control.  Of course a horse will alert or 
react to everything they encounter or we wouldn't be using them in MSAR.  I 
think the generic idea with desensitization is to not create a dead horse, 
which obviously is not to anyone's benefit, but rather a sensible horse with 
appropriate/safe reactions to a new stimulus.

Please excuse my use of the incorrect terminology if that is the case.

Laurie

On Dec 16, 2015 12:06 PM, irvin lichtenstein <ilichten1@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> There are several points raised in this discussion: 
> With regard to drone operations: 
> First, in the US all non-commercial drones have to have tail numbers 
> assigned at time of sale 
> And all existing drones will have to be registered by the owner over the 
> next 30 days or so. 
> The FAA is doing this on-line and the fee is $5 for a 3 year certificate. 
> The operator must read 
> the drone rules and have liability insurance of some kind to complete the 
> process. 
>
> Second, US regulations designate areas where drones cannot be flown without 
> a special use 
> permit. Besides staying under a height above ground limit, usually 400 
> feet, 
> they cannot be flown 
> over public assemblies (sports events, parades, camp grounds) or other 
> large 
> groups of people. 
> Operation in or near the flight paths of manned aircraft, over most 
> government 
> occupied buildings, schools, hospitals or medical facilities, 
> transportation 
> facilities, and other 
> restricted areas is forbidden. Since taking pictures of lots of stuff is 
> forbidden by the Patriot Act 
> there are really very few places where a drone can be flown legally.  
> Most public recreational areas ban RC aircraft now and it is likely these 
> bans will be expanded. 
> (Valley Forge National Historic Park has an RC allowed area in a large 
> meadow away from 
> everything else in the Park that is the only one I know of in the PA-NJ-DE 
> area parks.) 
>
> Third, commercial use of a drone currently requires a special use permit 
> from the FAA and must conform 
> to local statute if more restrictive, such as using cameras or infrared 
> sensors for surveillance. 
> Use of a drone to monitor stock on the range, make promotional videos, drop 
> stuff without landing 
> (which is even forbidden for manned aircraft), or provide a contracted 
> service is considered 
> commercial operation.  Unless the drone is actually registered to the SAR 
> organization it might 
> be considered commercial operation to have some third party operate it for 
> you.  
>
> Violation of the rules is a US federal offense as well as a state, county, 
> or municipal offense and some serious 
> penalties can result. Buzzing a person could be charged as assault for 
> instance and the operator also be held 
> civilly responsible for damages and still face federal charges for improper 
> operation of the drone. In PA buzzing 
> a search horse is a felony by the way and restitution is mandated. 
>
> Desensitizing: 
> I have never favored desensitizing a horse.  A horse can be educated as to 
> what a noise is, what a drone is, 
> and what  the expected reaction is.  You never want the horse to ignore 
> anything in the field.  Depending 
> on what it is you may want just an alert, or you may want a drastic 
> automatic reaction.  This is not necessarily 
> easy for the rider.  You have to trust the horse and be able to communicate 
> with your mount.  While I may not want 
> my horse to react strongly to a drone I do want him to detect its presence 
> and communicate it to me. I may want 
> him to stand in the presence of drones, vehicles, bicycles, some animals, 
> and just give me a little warning if we 
> are departing the area due gunfire, really bad predators (like bears), or 
> other dangers where being a short distance 
> away is good idea. 
>
> Horse are prey animals. It is that alertness and the ability of the horse 
> to 
> fuse inputs from all his senses and identify 
> what he is detecting that makes him a useful search partner.  Desensitized 
> horses are useless except as transportation 
> and may actually be dead horses if they don't pay attention to their 
> environment. 
> Irv Lichtenstein 
> SEPASAR 
> www.sepasar.net 
> ilichten1@verizon.net 
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________ 
> MSAR-Riders mailing list 
> MSAR-Riders@lists.ibiblio.org 
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/msar-riders