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In a different, but related vein, I've been working on getting  
horseback travel more accepted by our Supreme Council for Antiquities  
as a means of watching for illegal excavations. The Man With The Hat,  
Dr. Zahi Hawass, was in charge of Giza before he became the high  
mucky muck, and there he quite reasonably developed a violent dislike  
of horseback tourism. The stables in the area are appalling and the  
ethics of the horse owners and grooms are pretty bad as well. Horses  
in Giza contribute a great deal to the general decay of the plateau.  
But it is a very small space in comparison to Abu Sir/Sakkara/ 
Dahshur.  Our area has vast spaces that cannot be patrolled easily by  
the antiquities staff, but we have a really good and fairly  
responsible group of stables in the area who use the desert for  
recreation. We can see that it is in our interest to patrol the area  
and to keep it safe and clean for our riders. One of the things that  
I became aware of while riding was the encroachment of the Giza dump  
on the antiquities area and we are working to arrange a meeting  
regarding this. I want to propose that Dr. Hawass meet with some of  
our stables to discuss how we can help him to monitor his desert.   
For example, if we know where they are excavating or surveying, then  
we can report unusual activities that don't seem to be authorised.  
Right now, we have no one to report to.

I don't know how successful I will be, but it's worth a try. The  
illegal diggers are not just out there for fun either. Not long ago  
some riders came upon a Jeep out in the desert and the guys in the  
car proceeded to chase the horses, shooting at the riders. One of the  
horses was injured badly and one of the riders fell.  I heard about  
it because the rider was from the diplomatic community who ride with  
me. In general, if I see people in the desert I avoid them. The  
archaeologists are aware of Dr. Hawass' attitude and don't want to  
risk losing their license, while anyone else is going to be very  
unfriendly.  Again, the horses are a distinct advantage in spotting  
unusual activity in the desert. They usually see things long before  
we do.

Maryanne
Cairo

On Jun 4, 2006, at 9:16 PM, Barbara McCrary wrote:

> Patti's idea of Border Patrol on horseback has some interesting  
> possibilities.  There would have to be adequate water available, of  
> course, but consider the following:
> Lud and I are members of a mounted assistance unit for state parks  
> in CA. We have ridden our Arab endurance horses on these patrols.   
> I haven't had experiences with other breeds for 30 years, but I do  
> know that our Arabs are the darndest  "watch horses" imaginable.   
> They can spot something 1/4 mile away in our hilly country...a  
> coyote sitting on a hillside, for example, or as on patrol once, a  
> man hiding in the bushes spying on sunbathers on the beach.  If  
> Border Patrol rode Arabs, they would have several  
> advantages...ability to travel long distances without tiring, and  
> built-in spotting capabilities, for starters.  And riders can see  
> more details from horseback than from a vehicle.  This idea sounds  
> like a winner.  There would have to be hundreds of mounted patrol  
> teams on the border, but it is do-able.  In WW2, there were mounted  
> Coast Guard on the beaches, watching for ships or anything  
> suspicious on the shores.  We've come too far away from the  
> usefulness of horses in our present society...maybe it's time to go  
> back to using them.  The need for quality horses would give rise to  
> a new industry of breeding and training remounts.
>
> Barbara

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