Tracking devices to find lost horses: What's available?

[katarine]

Two horses got lost in Big South Fork in late Spring. They searched and searched, but only recently were their bodies found:

[I]…
In their case, it appears Sisco died of colic - probably from eating holly or mountain laurel. He was the first to die. Then it appeared that Stormy wouldn’t leave him and wandered around away and back. Eventually he did get his reins tangled in some pines and could wander no more. But even if he didn’t, he too would have perished due to no food or water. Both of them had run into a very thick area and were boxed in with cliffs on three sides and didn’t know how to get out. They did not have access to food or water. They died approximately 300 yards (3 football fields) away from where they were lost. Stormy died about 100 yards from Sisco. In this case, it was not HOW they died, but what could have been done to prevent it. I have already posted a follow up on the lessons I learned throughout this process. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll be happy to share it again. To summarize, the only way to prevent this from happening would be to make sure you have some type of tracking device in/on your tack so that they can be tracked immediately. That is the lesson to be learned from this.
The death of Sisco and Stormy are not going to teach us this - it will only remind us of the things we should already be doing.

This certainly made an impact on the horse community. I only hope that my “words of wisdom” taken from what I’ve learned throughout this ordeal, will be taken to heart and we can prevent this from happening to others. Some sort of tracking devices needs to be on your horse if you are out riding… anywhere… anytime.[/I]

BSF is very rugged

What tracking devices are even available? My phone/GPS stays on me, so that won’t help. These horses were unmounted when they spooked and got free from their owners, and got lost in the woods. And died less than a half mile away

[cutter99]

I think you are definitely correct in keeping your phone on your person when trail riding. I was always taught that you NEVER put it on the horse in case you get separated from the horse. I have not heard of a specific device that you can use to track a horse- kind of like a Lojack that they use on cars or trucks- but would some form of a GPS work if attached to the horse in some way? I do have a horse who is microchipped, but again you must have the horse with you and have a scanner in order to identify him.

It has made me think harder about what can happen if your horse gets away from you. I have never been to Big South Fork, but it is on my bucket list, so do not know what the terrain is like first hand.

[katarine]

A horse got loose from some folks in N AL and was big golly LOST in the Bankhead National Forest. This is how he was found.

That Arabian had been to the Bankhead countless times- but in a moment he was lost.

Maybe it’s a matter of sticking a GPS in a cantle bag?

[charismaryllis]

?

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/04/how-to-track-a-lost-animal/index.htm

[gothedistance]

The ONLY device that MIGHT work would be the tracking devices that foxhunts use for their hounds. Our hunt uses them on certain hounds (up to about 3 hounds) to see where they are in the territory while the pack is on the run. It certainly helps the huntsman when the territory is hostile to projected sound (meaning you can’t hear the hounds when you are galloping in a hollow), and I know it can be invaluable for the huntsman who is in a hurry to pull his pack together or gather them up, to radio a whip to let them know exactly where one of the GPS hounds are in their area.

However, the tracking collars have a limited battery life, plus a limited range. Not sure how far - you can Google that info - but knowing that horses rarely run far from the point where they lose their riders, a systematic sweep of the area with the receiving device should be able to receive a directional link to the sending device.

Other than this, I’m not sure if there is any other low cost finder. A phone planted on the horse could backfire if the horse loses the tack that the phone is in.

[tabula_rashah]

Would something like this in a saddle bag work? Lost luggage tracker

[katarine]

hmm…we might get one for the work truck, and give it a test drive! Good thought TR!

[trubandloki]

@katarine;7083563

A horse got loose from some folks in N AL and was big golly LOST in the Bankhead National Forest. This is how he was found.

Love a happy ending!

[rmh_rider]

For avalanche areas they have those tracking devices. Skiers who sky can opt to get one.

Also there are the tracking devices they put on dogs for hog hunting. They have cameras and gps tracking on the collars.

Yeah my friend Kari and Ha, and some others. l helped find that horse in Bankhead. Many of the pictures are the ones she took. From last I heard the horse is still doing well.

I always have my phone, and keys on my person at all times. I do and have done alot of rugged riding in some very out of the way places. I guess it is the long term endurance riding person in me who still does this to this day. Seen lots happen.

[gaitedincali]

A horse was recently lost locally and found dead. You’d think in an area that’s less than one square mile with houses on all borders it’d be easy to find a horse, but it’s amazing how they can vanish.

I wonder if something like this in a saddlebag would work-
http://www.amberalertgps.com/product_device/device/?utm_source=shopzilla&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=device&utm_campaign=cse

[cowboymom]

Lots of good ideas here!

[katarine]

I am really thinking about that car tracker GPS thing. Need to tell DH to buy one when he hires a crew again

[SharonA]

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/04/how-to-track-a-lost-animal/index.htm

[stanza]

I just saw this in the internet and thought that it might work well since it doesn’t run on a battery.
http://www.thetileapp.com/?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=CPC

Joan

[hundredacres]

[QUOTE=gaitedincali;7083923]
A horse was recently lost locally and found dead. You’d think in an area that’s less than one square mile with houses on all borders it’d be easy to find a horse, but it’s amazing how they can vanish.

I wonder if something like this in a saddlebag would work-
http://www.amberalertgps.com/product_device/device/?utm_source=shopzilla&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=device&utm_campaign=cse[/QUOTE]

Wow…so sorry!

[hundredacres]

[QUOTE=stanza;7090810]
I just saw this in the internet and thought that it might work well since it doesn’t run on a battery.
http://www.thetileapp.com/?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=CPC

Joan[/QUOTE]

I think that looks very promising I hate to think of what the criminal minds will do with t (it seems like they can always ruin anything useful)…but it could be wonderful for the pet world. Even for little kids.

[KSquared]

SOme of these are great, but what if you don’t have cell access or a signal?

There are a lot of canyons and dead zones where I live. I would go for something more with a satelite option. I wouldn’t mind carrying an extra device that would allow me to use the gps tracking option without cell coverage.

[FLIPPED_HER_HALO]

My friends do offroad racing. It’s mandatory for those races that they rent the GPS tracking. Something like this should be done for the endurance races.

The race management tracks each racer and people can follow them online on the race map of the course and see where every racer is. I think with horses this is imperative as they can bolt and get lost like this. Perhaps a tracker that can be attached into the mane since they tend to lose or get tied up in tack.

This is the company we use for the offroad racing. Perhaps they could develop something small to rent to endurance riders for events.
http://www.racetheworld.net/ircstore/main.asp?sitepages=AboutPage

[KSquared]

I found a couple of options…

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Astro-Tracker-Sporting-Bundle/dp/B0055QZ2JS/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_y

A bit pricy… but perhaps worth it even if you never have to use it.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-GPS-Dog-Tracking-Collar/dp/B003SV8IGQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1374616546&sr=1-5&keywords=gps+pet+tracker

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Astro-220-Tracking-Navigator/dp/B000MGM5MI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1374616902&sr=8-3&keywords=Garmin+Astro+220

I am sure you can manage to find a way to attach this to the saddle or maybe around the horses neck like a collar.

[SharonA]

I’m going to try a Garmin GTU 10… I’ll braid it into horse’s mane.

Can you imagine? Some untrusting people might even use such a device to track whether their horse was getting turned out for the agreed-upon hours.