Did you know that horses can help find missing people just like a bloodhound – by using their sense of smell?
At a recent demonstration in Terrebonne, Oregon of what is called “equine air-scenting”, an Appaloosa gelding named Joker took 2 minutes and 20 seconds to find a carefully hidden volunteer in a 13-acre, semi-wooded field.
1. How many seconds did it take Joker to find the hidden person?
Horsewoman Kate Beardsley, founder of a non-profit horse rescue called Mustangs to the Rescue, arranged the search demonstration with her friend Laurie Adams. The two are assembling a team of a dozen air-scent trained horses and riders that they hope eventually will be deployed around the Northwest when hunters, hikers and others go missing.
2. If an emergency call came in and Kate had to send half the team, how many horse and rider teams would she send out?
“I call it the lost art,” says horse trainer Terry Nowacki of Equine Detection Services. Terry began reviving the equine air-scenting techniques about 11 years ago. “It is the best-kept secret in the horse world.”
Tracking dogs can outperform horses in thick underbrush, said Nowacki. But horses often hold the advantage because airborne scent rises and horses stand taller than dogs, he said.
Another plus for horses: A tired horse opens its nostrils wider, exposing more olfactory receptors, said Nowacki. A dog, on the other hand, pants when tired and overheated, diminishing its scenting ability.
3. A domestic horse’s sense of smell is capable of identifying her owner at 61m. Assume the length of your stride is .8m. How many steps would you have to take to walk 61m?
“This is so natural for a horse,” Beardsley said. “Horses smell everything, and they tell everyone around them what they smell.’
Horses to the Rescue Answers
1. How many seconds did it take Joker to find the hidden person?
Answer: (60 x 2) + 20 = 140. It took Joker 140 seconds to find the hidden person.
2. If an emergency call came in and Kate had to send half the team, how many horse and rider teams would she send out?
Answer: 12 ÷ 2 = 6. Kate would send out six teams.
3. A domestic horse’s sense of smell is capable of identifying her owner at 60m. Assume the length of your stride is .8m. How many steps would you have to take to walk 60m?
Answer: 60 ÷ .8 = 75. You would take 75 steps to cover the distance!
Photo:
What a great face on such a great horse by Sue Nichols; CC BY-SA 2.0