It’s called “horse bombing,” in which mounts used in search and rescue missions are trained not to spook at gunshots, sirens, shouts and smoke. Sometimes even firecrackers are exploded.
“You want to make sure your horse will work for you, and different things will scare a horse,” said Debbie Cowgur, of Crete, a member of an on-call equestrian search team that has been trained to respond to emergencies.
Mary Beth Holsteen, of Barrington Hills, joined the group two years ago. So far, she and the other riders — about 30 volunteers from all over the Chicago area as well as from Indiana and Wisconsin — haven’t been called out on a rescue operation. But as members of the Mounted Operations Division, part of the Melrose Park Office of Public Safety-Homeland Security, they train as if it could happen tomorrow.
“When I hear about kids that are lost or anyone that’s lost or went missing, it’s good to be part of an operation — to be on call — to help find someone,” said Holsteen, who has learned how to look for evidence or clues left by someone in danger or hiding in thick brush or in a forest preserve.
Cowgur and her husband, Kendall, own a 31-acre farm in Crete, where the mounted division’s fall training session will be held next week. Another session will follow later in the month in a forest preserve.
The training, Cowgur said, can be grueling, and that can come as a surprise to some of the men and women interested in volunteering.
“Everyone thought we were just going to jump on our horses and search,” she said.
To be certified in mounted search and rescue, riders have to learn how to make sweeps at night as well as during the day. In one test, riders were given flashlights and told to look for playing cards hidden underneath leaves and other brush, or food wrappers or cigarettes.
Ronald Vasser, of Chicago, is in charge of the Mounted Operations Division. Trained as a respiratory therapist, he is also a self-proclaimed cowboy.
“When I became a cowboy and horse owner I had these skills,” said Vasser, who has competed in rodeos. “When you put it all together, you get a mounted search and rescue.”
Vasser brought the idea of a volunteer mounted search and rescue team to the attention of the Cook County sheriff’s department, where his father had once been a police captain.
He was referred to Melrose Park because the municipality already had a public safety division that conducted ground searches. He met Chief Philip Schwartz of the Melrose Park Public Safety Department-Homeland Security, who was receptive to the idea.
“We coordinate search efforts in Cook County and we go anywhere we’re requested,” Schwartz said, adding that the unit will respond to calls from as far north as the Wisconsin border to as far south as Crete, west to Barrington and east into Indiana.
The horses, he said, have a tremendous advantage when it comes to searching. For one thing, the animals can cover more ground, Schwartz said.
“Being mounted, they have the advantage to move through quicker and have higher visibility,” he said.
Riders, he said, work well in the open fields and crop areas.
“We ride with pride,” Vasser said of his team. “I’m happy that we do have enough people trained to respond to a call. I’m looking forward to accomplishing much more. We’re continually training to be ready.”
Vasser accepts both English and Western style riders and is always seeking volunteers, who are required to be at least 21 years old.
Holsteen, vice president of the Riding Club of Barrington Hills, believes that when the time comes, she and her horse Tiveo will be prepared.
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“We’re ready to go when they need us,” Holsteen said.
Carolyn Rusin is a staff reporter; Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelance reporter.