Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC) Volunteers Training for Emergencies

LRTC Emergency Response Team Mounted Searching: EQUINE SCENT DETECTION Part Two (Practicing locating specific target scents while blindfolded.) Please note: This page is a continuation from Part One. Mounted Team Pros and Cons. When developing and deploying a mounted team one must evaluate both the team's support needs and the benefits that a mounted team can provide. Some needs to consider: Horses can't just be garaged until needed. They require continuous feed, maintenance and care; expenses that mounted responders typically have to bear. Horses and riders require regular training exercises in order to maintain a high level of proficiency in the field. Horses aren't kept stored on trailers and horse trailers have to move over roadways at a slower rate of travel, especially in back country. Therefore the reflex times for deploying a mounted unit can be considerably longer than other "ready to go" resources. Mounted teams take longer at staging to prepare for deployment into the field, with the rider needing to prepare personal gear as well as tacking up the horse. Mounted teams should engage in formal safety checks prior to starting out, especially when tacking up in chaotic environments. Horses require support during long-duration incidents in the form of water and feed. A spare Jerry can of fuel isn't going to keep them in service. Vehicles towing horse trailers require extra space at the staging area, including space between trailers, in order to be able to tie or secure horses. There must also be ample turning room provided for access and egress of longer rigs. There are conditions where it is not safe or possible to tow a horse trailer. Turning radius and low clearance on back country trails may also be an issue. Support personnel for mounted SAR can be very useful. Some examples include helping prepare the horses for the field to reduce time, driving vehicles to drop off or pick up SAR personnel in the field (including responding with the trailer to pick up riders with horses,) and assisting with other logistics. Riders, while not suffering fatigue at the same rate as ground pounders, do exert physical energy and will require more frequent rest and/or relief than OHV responders. Some terrain and conditions are not suitable for horses, yet experienced horses and riders are able to access a lot of territory non-riders and less experienced horses and riders would not consider accessible on horseback. Comfort zones are different for different horse and rider combinations, so Command needs to be very aware of capabilities and limitations of their mounted teams. Some advantages to consider: Mounted teams can often be utilized in circumstances where terrain is inaccessible by OHVs and difficult for ground pounders. Mounted teams can travel at approximately twice the speed and several times the distance of ground pounders. Research indicates that effectively trained mounted searchers have similar successes at recognizing clues and signs as ground teams while traveling almost twice as fast. Such abilities make mounted teams valuable on many types of hasty searches, covering ground more quickly. The rider's height in the saddle creates a vantage point for an angle of view higher than other ground resources, advantageous in many environments. Mounted teams can travel to ideal observation points that may be difficult for OHVs to access or may be too environmentally sensitive to drive OHVs. Mounted teams can search wilderness areas where motorized vehicles are prohibited. Mounted teams can be useful in attraction searches. The riders, when wearing retroreflective and/or illuminating gear, are easy to spot and their higher positions (astride their horses) provide excellent vantage points from which to observe the surrounding area. Mounted teams can be useful in containment searches as mounted riders are already in higher positions and horses can be positioned in optimum locations for containment operations. Mounted teams can be useful in hasty searches by following motorized searchers and/or by covering ground that may be difficult for OHV travel. Since the horses are relatively quiet and move at speeds that allow searchers to more effectively process auditory and visual clues and signs, mounted searchers can provide more complete analysis of the incident area. Also anecdotal reports suggest that at times lost individuals are attracted to but are not seen by OHV hasty searchers, whereupon the following mounted units might then either be noticed by the lost individuals or the subject be spotted by the mounted searchers. Exhausted lost individuals can be carried to vehicle rendezvous points on horseback. When properly trained, mounted teams can "pack out" injured subjects. Mounted teams can deliver back country supplies. Mounted teams can establish radio relay points in terrain where radio signal propagation is an issue. Mounted teams can provide perimeter security in the event an incident is a potential crime scene. Many riders have trucks that can be useful in logistics, with potential to also arrive towing an empty trailer to transport supplies, or to pull other trailers if the connections are compatible. The horse is a natural search partner, a prey animal using all senses to monitor surroundings. The observant rider will notice when the horse’s body language “alerts” to indicate that something caught the horse's interest. That "something" could be the missing person or a clue such as an article of clothing. Trained mounted searchers understand when to “look where the horse looks.” With repetition the horse can learn that the rider is seeking a human, much like ranch horses learn the cowboy is looking for cattle, which further encourages the horse to look. Horses have a proven ability to locate unseen individuals and objects by scent, particularly if a reference scent can be provided. This capability can be utilized similar to a search dog, and as with dogs, special training is required. It's in their DNA. Horses evolved as prey animals. Keen senses were a requirement for the species to survive. Horses are also precocious learners with instinctive curiosity. When these natural attributes and behaviors are properly shaped, they can provide significant advantages to search and rescue operations. One secret to success is to shape these natural behaviors so that the horses aren't reactive to unexpected people and objects, but instead provide detection signals that their riders can recognize. Accomplishing this objective requires the horses to be conditioned so that their "discoveries" don't result in reactivity (spookiness,) and that riders become more cognizant of their horses' alert signals. Equine scent detection is merely an extension of an effective mounted unit's training program. While an obvious objective is for horses to be able to reliably detect and find missing people, objects, etc., a more profound benefit lies in the riders' becoming more attuned to their horses' signals and attempts at communication, thus generating increased overall mounted proficiency and safety. Field exercise example. We often practice in an area consisting of approximately 18 square miles (approx. 11,500 acres) of hills, small canyons and rough volcanic peaks. Our search scenarios generally involve 2,000 to 3,000 acres of the total area, with the choice of terrain based on our particular training objectives. Scenario: The search area comprised about 3,000 acres of hills and narrow valleys. Cover was desert sage, scrub and tumbleweeds with a maximum plant height of about 5 feet, average plant height < 3 feet. The day was clear and mild. Wind was out of the southeast at about 5 knots. Our subject was an endurance rider who volunteered to role play being been bitten by a rattlesnake when leading his horse and subsequently was unable to remount to ride out. His horse is now loose. Searchers have been provided a probable location of the rider's pickup and trailer. A search was called for when the rider did not return when expected. Our mounted team consisted of two of our search "rookies" and an instructor providing minimal advice. This was their second deployment on a wide-area search exercise. They were supported by an experienced IC who was attached to Rescue 3 and a Safety Officer was present, bringing the total search compliment to five personnel; three in the field and two staged at the start point. Performance objectives: Deploy and establish an ICS compliant search operation (I.C., Safety Officer, search team hierarchy, appropriate resources.) Locate the subject within one hour of callout. Provide appropriate first aid. Remove the subject to a location where a (simulated) paramedic unit could be deployed to take over patient care within 30 minutes of finding subject. (Personnel at staging, while the mounted team was deployed.) Monitor radio traffic, support the operation. Maintain a real-time event log. Prepare the Stokes basket and rescue gear for deployment if needed. Notes: In this scenario the subject could ride out with the team if found within one hour of callout by using team members to assist with mounting. After one hour the subject would be too weak and would have to be carried out in the Stokes basket. Search objectives also included tracking the rider in an area frequented by wild horses (thousands of hoofprints present) in addition to scent detection. Actual search performance. (One team of 3 riders.) Contact made with subject from time of callout: 42 minutes. Note 1 Contact made with subject from start of search at subject's trailer: 20 minutes. Note 2 Contact made with subject after horses were provided a reference scent: 1 minute. Note 3 Note 1: Since this was an exercise, members were already prepared to load their horses and respond at the time of "callout." Note 2: Search time started following completion of mounted safety inspection check-off. Note 3: Upon smelling a reference scent, the horses trotted in a bee-line directly to the hidden subject. Here is a link to the actual Exercise Event Log, a MS Word file that should open in a new tab or window. Continue to Developing Effective Search Horses Return to Part One Press Back to return to the page which brought you here Return to LRTC SAR Tools Resource Page Return to LRTC Training and Information Page Return to KBR Training Page Go To KBR Horse Net