Save Your Horse!

  
QUESTION: What do I do should my horse become cast in his stall? Supposing it happened whilst I was there alone – what could be done to help the horse and keep myself out of danger?
 ANSWER: The good news is that it doesn’t happen very often. The bad news is that it is difficult to handle alone. My advice is – Don’t Do It! Get Help! It’s Dangerous! ! !
As a horse owner who is often home alone with my critters, I would have to try SOMETHING in that situation. BUT – I would have to exhaust all other methods first.That said:First things first! Your safety is number one! Repeat after me – “My safety is number one!” Keep repeating that because when your animal, your kid, your family member is in trouble you’ll want to charge in to do something – anything! – to make it better. ALWAYS remember: If you’re injured that makes TWO rescues. If you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem. You COULD die.

Here are a couple of ways you can handle a cast horse. The scene: Your horse is in a stall. His back is toward you and he is lying with his feet against the back wall. He has a few feet of space in front of his nose.

First: Breathe and get grounded. It’s not a “new age” thing. When your adrenaline is flowing, the oxygen supply to your brain is slowed. Take a couple of deep, slow breaths and relax your muscles as much as possible. This brings down your energy level and helps your horse relax.

Second: Assess the scene. Do you have room to maneuver around the horse without becoming injured? Is he thrashing and in escape mode? Is he injured? Do you have the tools to help? Get on the phone in your barn (everyone has one, right? ) and call for help. Yes, the time lost could further injure your horse, but your safety is number one. And it’s better to have help on its way and have to cancel it, then try to fix the problem and THEN call for help. Do not attempt to help a thrashing horse!

Third: Gather your tools. That means sturdy shoes with traction, gloves, and a HELMET! ! DO NOT TRY THIS WITHOUT A HELMET! You’ll need at least thirty feet of sturdy rope/webbing/single jacket wildland fire hose ( “rope” ), and lightweight webbing. You need a pike pole/ceiling hook/boat hook/snake tongs. The first two are the same thing and are fire department standard equipment. You should be able to buy them online or talk to your fire department about getting one of theirs. Fire hose needs to be replaced regularly, so get the old stuff from your FD.

Do you have a pulley setup that you can hook to something sturdy like the hitch on your truck or a tree outside the stall? This adds “manpower” without additional bodies. If you need to use a pulley, make sure you have a “breakaway” strap between the horse and the pulley. Using a pulley makes the whole operation more dangerous, so I don’t recommend using one in what is already a dangerous situation. But it is something that I, personally, might try if all else fails and I couldn’t get any help.

Do NOT step over your horse and get yourself in between his body and the wall.
All work is done from the back. Put a halter and lunge line or long rope on your horse. Pad under his head.

Method 1: Reaching from behind, drop most of the “rope” in front of your horse’s front legs. With the pole, maneuver it under his lower front leg, drag to the back
legs, maneuver it under his lower back leg and pull it back to you over his butt. It is now over his shoulder, under his legs close to his body, over his butt, and the ends are in your hands. Put slight tension on his halter line (over his neck – tip his nose up) and pull the “rope” and the halter line together. It takes some heaving that’s for
sure: The average sized horse should go over. Once he tips past the halfway mark, let go and get out. The strap will drop off him. Be prepared to get out of his way because he’ll come over fast. He may actually go over on his own once you start flipping him. This is the preferred method.

Method 2: This involves another handy piece of equipment – a tow strap. Get a two ply strap with a flat loop on each end. You don’t want the kind with the twisted
loop. It’s harder to push under a horse. Tie your lightweight web to one end, and with your pole, push it under your horse in the little pocket behind his front legs. When it is through, pull it up over his back and take off the web. Feed the other loop through the first loop, then pull the strap back so the first loop is at about ground level. Tighten slowly, tip up the horse’s nose with the halter line and pull him over. I don’t like this as much because the strap doesn’t fall off as easily once the horse is up and some horses start thrashing when they feel the noose tighten around them. It is good if for some reason his legs aren’t accessible.

Another thought: Organize your neighborhood so you have someone nearby to call if you need help.