"Horse Search" Thanks Received

SD Wing has received thanks from the owner of a horse that members searched for in 2023. The horse’s owner, Gin Szagola, was riding across the United States and was wilderness camping in Wind Cave National Park. The horse, Finley, got away in the middle of the night, pulling a long picket rope.

CAP does not usually search for missing animals, but the wing already had training funds scheduled for use and benefitted from practicing visual searching in the rugged terrain around Wind Cave. The fact that the SDWG had a real-world target for the search instead of a simulation made it an ideal opportunity for CAP to train and provide a public service at the same time.

The horse was located a week later in healthy condition along Highway 385 in the park, about two miles from where it went missing.

South Dakota Wing received the postcard below from Gin recently, informing us of their safe arrival on the West Coast.