IF YOUR HORSE GETS LOOSE IN THE WILDERNESS

• Try not to panic and take a minute to assess the situation.

Make sure you are unhurt and determine if you have the time and capacity to go after your horse.

• Record, mark or photograph the point exactly where the horse was lost.

• Determine signs that will help in tracking your horse, such as bare hoof prints, shoe prints or a dragging lead rope.

• As you track your horse, mark exactly where you leave the trail or where you can no longer follow his tracks.

• When you can no longer follow the horse’s hoof prints—or if it becomes unsafe to continue—go back to your trailer or wherever you have cell reception and call for help.

• If friends arrive to help, try to keep your search parties from obliterating your horse’s tracks.

• When search-and-rescue professionals arrive, defer to their guidance and protocols; they know what they are doing.