This unique course was developed by veterinarians at the world-renowned University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The course will address horsemanship from a welfare perspective, within the context of “The Five Freedoms” of animal welfare. We’ll explore equine physiology, behavior and basic needs including housing, nutrition, hygiene and disease management. You’ll learn how to perform basic tasks to assess the overall condition of the horse and identify problem areas. We’ll also examine the specialized needs of the equine athlete and the major responsibilities we as owners, handlers or competitors must assume in order to ensure the health and welfare of our equine companions. Finally, we’ll look several special topics in equine welfare including disaster planning and the international welfare efforts now in place to protect working horses and other equids in key industries such as racing, international competition, tourism and even mining. By the conclusion of the course, you will be well equipped to develop a comprehensive welfare plan for any horses in your care.
Emergency Preparedness, Evacuation and Rescue
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From the course by University of California, Davis
Equine Welfare and Management
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From the lesson
Providing Proper Care and a Safe Environment
In this module, you will be able to discuss proper husbandry for your horse. You will be able to identify the second of the five freedoms – freedom from discomfort. You will be able to recognize the importance of creating a proper and safe environment. You will also be able to analyze best practices for proper flooring, bedding, footing, exercise, and safety for both you and your horse. You will be able to review the steps needed for emergency preparedness, evacuation, and rescue situations. You will be able to develop a safety plan utilizing the standards of care for your facility.
Meet the Instructors
Claudia Sonder, DVMEmeriti Director of Equine Outreach
Center for Equine Health
Welcome back. In this lesson,
we'll introduce you to basic concepts of preparedness,
evacuation, and technical rescue safety.
At the end of the lesson,
you'll be able to recognize when you or your horse are in a true emergency.
And we'll share some resources for further training,
and ideas for supporting your local first responders in their efforts to help horses.
Let's start with individual horse emergencies.
When we talk about an emergency in this lesson,
we are referring to a single incident at one location
involving an individual horse or a small number of horses.
Examples include a trailer accident,
horse stuck in a ravine or mud,
or a single barn fire.
In later lessons, the word emergency is also used to refer to
an individual horse experiencing
a serious health challenge such as a hoof puncture wound, or colic.
We've talked about safeguarding the Equine premises as best you can.
However, a horse is curious but fearful nature and drive
for frequent grazing can sometimes put the horse in a precarious situation.
They may stick their neck through fence rails for
grass only to find out they can't get their head back.
They may run fast to try to get away from
something that scared them and slide down a ravine.
They may try to jump over a gate but only get halfway.
In addition, some emergencies arise from the situations
we put horses in for recreation, training, or transport.
This includes slipping into mud,
or sliding down a cliff during a trail ride,
or being involved in a trailer accident.
Equine emergencies may also involve people, the rider,
the driver, or a bystander,
and those who try to rescue the horse.
These emergency situations will likely require
the intervention of knowledgeable trained horsemen and women,
first responders, as well as a veterinarian.
It is very helpful to know beforehand
what resources for assistance are available in your area,
and have those phone numbers posted in the barn and entered in your cell phone.
As in any emergency,
first and foremost is to ensure the safety of people.
If you are involved in an emergency,
get yourself into a safe space.
This not only ensures your own safety but ultimately affects your horse's safety,
so that you are able to call for help.
Depending on the area where you live,
you will call your emergency responders.
In the United States,
this is usually done by dialing 911,
which results in the rapid dispatch of fire and rescue personnel and equipment.
When a horse is involved,
right after that phone call,
it is usually advisable to contact your veterinarian.
A horse in need of rescue will often require
more than one person just based on the physical logistics of assisting a horse.
Involving a veterinarian, allows the veterinarian to assess the horse's condition,
provide medication as needed,
and advise first responders in animal handling and technical rescue.
If you are on a road,
traffic control agencies will be involved.
Some communities have regional volunteer,
large animal rescue teams who have been specifically
trained to respond and work with municipal first responders.
First responders will need to clearly hear your location,
the situation, if people are involved,
and in initial assessment of the animal-human condition.
This is where the first modules information about anatomy and
vital signs will be very helpful to relay information in an efficient way.
Successful transfer of information also
necessitates that you breathe deeply and remain calm,
and remember, do not put yourself in harm's way to assist an animal.
While you are waiting for help,
continue to self assess.
Make sure that you are stable and safe,
and have special awareness of your own alertness,
mental clarity, and pain level.
Be mindful not to get trapped in a confined space or sink into a mud hole with the horse.
The safest place for you might be away from the horse completely,
especially if he or she is thrashing or struggling to get free,
or is in a constricted place.
If the horse is calm, proceed with caution,
and always stay towards the horse's spine,
or towards the back side of the horse when it is down near the withers.
This keeps you away from the powerful legs and head.
Stay in a position that you can quickly rise up and move away if needed.
When first responders arrive,
understand that they are now in command of the incident and follow their instructions.
Stay quiet and calm,
talk and help only when asked and ideally,
make an effort to have a veterinarian on site if they have not already been called.
The specific rescue approach will vary with each circumstance, but likely,
will involve supportive veterinary care which can include sedation,
intravenous fluids, and bandages.
Often, first responders and technical rescue experts will need to apply special ropes,
straps, or application pulley systems,
and may need to use heavy equipment around the horse.
You can help by being prepared to receive
the horse once it is extricated from its predicament.
This may involve assuring there is a clear path
back to the barn with a well bedded stall ready.
It may also involve organizing transportation to
your barn or to a veterinary hospital for supportive care.
Again, human safety always trumps the safety of the horse,
and if in doubt,
remain back until a veterinarian and first responders are on scene.
Barn fires can be rapid and intense because of all
of the combustible material that is often stored in a barn.
Here are a few efforts that you can take to minimize fire risk.
Post signs and enforce "No Smoking" in a barn,
install smoke alarms and heat detectors that
are effective and change the batteries once yearly,
avoid the storage of large caches of hay inside
the barn as hay is uniquely flammable and can generate intense heat.
Be vigilant in moving moldy bales of hay which are more prone to natural combustion.
In hot weather, hay is most likely to combust within
the first 7-10 days of delivery after being harvested.
Routinely remove flammable items such as baling twine,
or paper grain sacks,
old straw, or furniture.
Have a regular routine to remove cobwebs,
especially near light and electrical fixtures.
Keep electrical systems up to date and unplug electrical devices when not in use.
Store machinery and fuels away from the barn where horses are kept.
Maintain rodent control to minimize the chewing of wires.
Create a defensible space and eliminate
all ladder fuels in trees and vegetation surrounding the barn.
Ideally, ladder fuels should be trimmed to 10 feet in height.
Keeps several large fire extinguishers in
visible places and make sure everybody knows how to use them.
Install an overhead roof sprinkler
system on the barn that can be activated should a fire start.
Preparedness includes planning exit routes and keeping them clear of storage.
An empty barn aisle is a tempting place to store wheelbarrows,
tools, and extra hay,
but this creates an obstacle to a quick exit.
Halters and lead rope should be placed adjacent to
each horse's stall because the horse may need to be let out of the barn in a hurry.
Interestingly, horses won't run out of
a burning barn and sometimes they will return back into a burning barn.
You should plan the alternate site where you will take
your horse away from a burning barn or structure.
You may have heard that a horse will go back into a burning barn, this is true.
Horses feel secure in their barn home,
so they will return to that perceived security,
sometimes even if the barn is actively on fire.
It is not enough to just lead the horses out of the barn,
you need to secure them away from the barn and have
the ability to close the barn down such that it cannot be re-entered.
Finally, make sure that the roadway to the barn is clear and maintained,
so that fire engines can access the barn.
Remember, if you do experience a barn fire,
be aware that barn fires spread very quickly and the structure will likely be
engulfed in flames in 10 minutes or less because barns are filled with fuel for fires,
wood, hay, flammable chemicals, and air.
If the fire starts,
tell everyone to get out of the barn and have someone call 911.
If the fire is still small enough that it could be confined in a garbage can,
use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
Use your best judgment to determine if it is safe to let horses out of a burning barn.
Do not jeopardize your own safety.
Lead the horses away from the barn to a secure area.
If you're coughing or your eyes are watering,
do not remain in the structure.
When a fire unit arrives,
understand it's time to step aside and to follow their instructions.
It is not uncommon for a fire unit to cut
fences and to create greater access to a burning structure.
Now, let's discuss preparing for and responding
to larger scale incidents and natural disasters.
Much of what we have just discussed applies,
but we'll talk about a few specifics.
First, make an effort to become aware of the potential disasters in
your area and the resources available to you for education.
It is important to not only prepare for disaster,
but know how you can be of assistance and how you can recover from a disaster.
Local fire services, offices of emergency services,
and veterinarians may offer workshops on preparing for the next big disaster.
For horse owners, here are a few tips to consider as part of your preparation.
Train your horse to be caught, led, tied,
and trailered in a step up and a ramp trailer.
When training your horse to do these things,
add in lights, and sound, and noise,
and commotion over time such that they will be able
to perform these acts even when highly stimulated.
Keep your horse updated on vaccinations,
have ready at hand two forms of identification for your horse.
Ideally, a microchip implanted in the horse by your veterinarian,
and also a name tag on a leather halter,
or a luggage tag that you can affix to the horses main,
that will include your contact information and your address.
Have the truck and trailer ready to go,
and know who will be transporting your horse.
Make sure that your tires have air and that you
have at least a half tank of gas at all times.
Inspect the floorboards of your trailer
annually to make sure that your trailer is fit to haul.
Know your evacuation route and your destination options,
know what you will do if you can't take your horses with you,
and if you need to leave at a hats notice,
share your plans with your neighbors and familiarize your neighbors with your facility.
Have a to go bag ready,
especially during high risk seasons such as flood or fire season,
a large duffel bag works well.
Items in the bag should include medical records,
including a recent photograph of you and your horse together,
ten days worth of any medication that your horse might be on,
a first-aid kit that includes common medications and wrap materials,
discuss the contents of this with your veterinarian.
A headlamp, a pocket knife,
and some duct tape, a few extra buckets, halters,
lead ropes, a tarp,
and ideally some plastic temporary fencing,
a small container of bleach and dawn soap.
If you are in imminent danger, evacuate early.
Even if it ends up being a false alarm,
consider it an excellent drill.
Take enough feed for seven days and enough water for at least three days,
five gallon camping containers are good for storing water.
Go directly to the designated large animal shelter or pre-arranged private stabling,
and make sure that somebody out of the area knows your location.
If you cannot evacuate with your horse,
lock the horse out of the barn and turn him out into a large fenced space or free.
Remove blankets and nylon halters,
do you place a leather Halter with
an ID tag on the horse and leave a lead rope near the gate.
Fill your water troughs,
shut off your gas and electrical,
provide bales of hay at least seven days worth on
site or store them up where they cannot be impacted by flood.
Leave your contact information in a ziplock bag taped to the fence or in your mailbox.
Except for the case of rising floodwater,
generally, it is not a good idea to let horses loose.
In addition to running free and potentially injuring themselves,
being loose may take them away from food and water.
Loose horses can also become a road hazard to first responders who may be on
their way to save human lives as well as trying to stay alive themselves.
However, when in doubt,
let them out especially in the case of flood,
horses will find high ground if allowed to do so.
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