Mounted search and rescue

[ALLEN SNYDER <allendana1@sbcglobal.net>]

Thanks.  I know nothing about them, so good info.  We board, so would be unlikely to get permission to try this with other horses around.  Would have to first learn to use it safely then isolate our own horses in a separate area to introduce it.  A commitment worth making though! 

---

From: G Griffin <ggriffin924@gmail.com>
To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 11:39 AM
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Drone desensitizing

You can purchase a drone or quad as they are more properly named, for around 40 bucks.  So they are not hard to come by, and can be used to get your horses used to the things.  The "Proto X" drone is the one I have cost under $40 and flys for around 5 min.  Started with it 150 ft away and then flew it closer each day after about 5 day's and playing with it around the house, the horse ignores it.  The nice thing about the micro drones is if you crash it, it doesn't break and also won't hurt any people if you hit a person with it.

-Griffin-

On 16 December 2015 at 12:22, Laurie Hanahan <lhanahan@mindspring.com> wrote:

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
>
>
>
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