Search and Rescue Horses – Which Breed Is Best?

Search and rescue horses go out in all kinds of weather and on all types of terrain looking for missing persons, police evidence, drug plantations and just about anything else emergency services need to find. As a member of a mounted search and rescue unit, some of the searches we have been on involved missing children, murder investigations, police evidence, locating drug crops, and missing persons (often feared suicides).

Why do they use horses?

Horses have many advantages in search and rescue situations. Some of these advantages include:

• The ability to cover large areas of ground in a short space of time.
• They give the cyclist an elevated view of the surrounding countryside, allowing them to cover a much larger area in one ‘sweep’ than someone on foot.
• Horses have much better hearing and eyesight than people, so they will usually hear or spot something different or out of place before the rider does.
• Horses can choose their own path through rough terrain, allowing the rider to focus 100% on the hunt. Motorcycles (also often used in searches) do not have this advantage!
• Horses often seem less threatening to a missing person. Missing children may even be attracted to horses.
• Although horses are not generally used in situations considered dangerous, they do provide the rider with a quick escape if a situation turns risky.

So what makes a good search horse?

First of all, a good search horse should have a reasonably calm, calm and confident temperament. You don’t want them to be too quiet, as they may not pick up the sights and sounds that could lead the rider to what he’s looking for, but they (and the rider) should be able to handle anything you can throw at them. to them.

Search and rescue operations often involve things that many horses might find “frightening,” such as low-flying helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, generators, motorcycles, trucks, radios, and anything different in each location (wildlife, etc. ). They should also be easy to load onto a trailer and happy to be tied to the side of the trailer for as long as needed.

What is the best breed for a search and rescue horse?

Almost any horse that can handle these things will be suitable, but there is one breed in particular that stands out above the rest: the Arabian.

Some people may consider Arabians to not have the right temperament (too ‘hot’ or ‘creepy’) to fetch, but keep in mind that most of any horse’s ability to be calm in strange situations comes from the ability of the rider to keep calm.

The main advantages Arabians or even Arabian mestizos have over other horses is their ability to go all day (exceptional stamina), their confident gait on rough terrain, and their level of alertness. The Arabian horse is usually much more in tune with their surroundings than the average horse – they know exactly what’s on the next hill!

Many mounted search and rescue organizations around the world are realizing its benefits and are now making a greater effort to include Arabs or Métis in their search teams. The Arabian’s natural abilities and characteristics make it a far superior search mount.