If someone were to tell me, “My horse alerted right there,” I would want to slow what this person is telling me so I can account for their experience exactly. Details please! :)
What was the horse doing before that point? What exactly happened there? What did the rider do next? What did anyone find afterward?
Those are timeline questions. They’re as useful on a mounted search as they are in a homicide investigation.
Start before the reaction. Which direction was the team traveling? What was the horse’s pace? Was it working steadily, resisting, tired, or distracted? Had another person drawn attention to that location? Had the rider already spotted something? What were the weather and ground conditions?
Then describe the moment itself. “Alerted” is a conclusion unless the rider explains what the horse did. Did it stop, sidestep, raise its head, turn an ear, look repeatedly in one direction, or change pace? How long did the behavior last? Did it happen once or recur when the horse passed the same area?
Finally, record what happened afterward. Did the rider stop and look? Did the team change direction? Who entered the area, and by what route? Was anything found? If nothing was found, was the area checked fully or only viewed from the trail?
The sequence protects us from an easy mistake: making a later discovery sound as though it was inevitable from the horse’s behavior. A rider may remember a brief hesitation as a decisive signal after learning that something important was nearby. A contemporaneous account gives investigators a clearer view.
Location needs the same care. A general statement such as “near the creek” may be of limited use on a long search route. Record the position as precisely as the team’s tools and procedures allow, along with the direction of travel and the area that drew attention. Remember someone has to use all this information later to determine lots of things in about what happened.
To note: I also want the rider’s actions in that timeline. Did the rider shorten the reins, speak to the horse, turn toward an object, or ask it to move forward? Those details aren’t an admission of error. They’re part of the event. They can be very important when issues come from opposing parties about the conduct of a searcher, the actual riding ability of a searcher, should they have been deployed to an active scene at all, etc. Opposing parties attack from all sides. Training, integrity, structure, methodology, and documentation ensure we are doing it the same way every time, treating every victim the same way, making sure our team members are very well trained in all things required for the mission. Not easy to do for sure. Again, I digress, “The more I know, the more I know, I don’t know.” My tale as old as time.
In The Murder Room Method at LPA, a timeline helps us test how separate pieces of information fit together. The mounted team’s timeline serves the same purpose. It lets someone who wasn’t in the saddle examine the sequence instead of relying on a memorable phrase and trust me there are going to be lots of people coming to examine everything who have only seen a horse up close like once when they were a kid. Not everyone knows horses and how to use them as Search Horses. We have to help individuals without horse knowledge understand what we are doing as individuals and as a team so they can feel like they were out there with us too. As retired District Attorney Michael Parker always says “Put the crime scene in the community” so people can relate.
The horse has a timeline. The rider does too. Putting both on the record isn’t optional, it is the standard.
Series Note: This article is part of The Horse Knows Something, our fall 2026 blog series leading up to our inaugural NASAR Academy in part of Laura Pettler & Associates International Forensics Institute’s new Mounted Forensic Operations Program. The NASAR Academy will be held November 15-22, 2026 at Crossroads Ranch. Register now for our spring or fall 2027 NASAR SARTECH II + Wilderness First Aid academy today at LPAIFI.com.
