While rumor has it that the lungs will fill up with blood, they don’t. They do, however, fill with fluid after a couple hours. It’s called edema. Edema is swelling resulting from a buildup of fluid in tissue. In the case of pulmonary edema, it’s the accumulation of fluid in the lungs.
With a draft horse, because of the weight, I would consider putting on two straps and hauling the horse backward far enough that he can get up on his own. If he’s been down a long time, that may not work, because he’ll start to numb out, but if he’s got use of his limbs he’s better off getting up on his own. This will work for any horse that is mobile and should be considered a 3rd method for dealing with cast horses.
When not to use it? If you haul a horse backward with the idea that he will right himself, but he is numb and can’t get up on his own, you won’t be able to push him back against the wall to give yourself room to roll him. Then you have another whole operation. If you don’t have enough room and you roll him, he may become cast again, only with his feet pointing toward the opening! Then you’ll be faced with getting him pulled out the doorway – a forward extrication.  It WILL work if he is in a pipe panel corral and has caught his legs in the pipes. You would then have room to maneuver him, and you could always take down the pipe panels to allow for extra room.

When not to try:
1. any time it would violate the primary rule (Your safety is number one!)
2. if he’s injured and you will further injure him by rolling him.

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.

  In extremely bad weather, is it better to bring the horses into the barn where they would be in their stalls or is there less chance of them being injured if left outside in the paddocks? The answer is: It depends.

Are the horses used to being in the barn? Do they consider a stall a “safe place”?
If so, they may be calmer there than they would be outside. But if the horses are used to fending for themselves outside, the sound of intense rain, hail or debris on the roof, and no way to escape it, might incite them to riot. If the horses panic inside their stalls, what will happen? Can they rear up and knock themselves out from hitting the ceiling or light fixtures? Will they kick concrete walls and break a leg? Will they try to jump out of the stall and end up straddling the wall or jam a leg through bars that are too far apart for safety? Can they break through the stall doors, and if so, what awaits them in the aisle of the barn? Can they see their fellow horses or are they isolated in their fear? Or, do you have a single horse who will have no comfort from other horses? If the answers are negative, the horses COULD be better off outside.

What is the condition of the structure? Is it strong enough to withstand high winds? Are there tie-downs at the corners? Shear-strength in the walls? Nothing
will protect your barn from a direct hit from a tornado, but if it’s passing close by and there is debris flying through the air, will the barn withstand a glancing blow?

On the other hand, if you turn your horses loose what do they face? Everyone has heard of horses (and golfers!) who shelter under trees in a thunderstorm and are killed by lightning. Do the horses have other shelter in the pasture or will they head for the trees? Is there a low spot on the property that might protect them from both lightning and the chaos of a tornado without danger of flash flooding? Horses are smart about saving themselves. They haven’t survived as a species this long without knowing how. But they need options.

Is the choice between a stall and a small, flat, featureless pasture where they are exposed to the elements?

What is the prevailing direction of the storms? Tornadoes typically travel from southwest to northeast. In my part of the world, rainstorms come from the south and icy spring winds come from the north, so my barn’s doors open east and west. I’m surrounded on all sides by trees that cut the force of the wind as well, both at the barn and in the pasture. My horses have full access to stalls and pasture and in inclement weather PREFER to stand outside.

Given a choice, horses will often shelter up against the lee side of a building. They won’t care  if they get wet if they’re sheltered from the wind. This is especially true if they can “bunch up” outside, but inside the stalls they are isolated and cannot find comfort from the presence of a stablemate.

How safe is it outside? In looking around your pasture and barnyard, is there “stuff” that could become missiles in strong wind? Buckets left lying around? Garbage cans? A burn pile of branches? Could a violent wind push your horse trailer through the fence? Then the broken boards or posts could become free-flying projectiles. And, speaking of that, how sturdy ARE your fences? If you turn out your horses could they escape with a little determination or panic?

You need to consider these types of questions before you can determine the answer. And, of course, the answer may be different depending on the nature of the emergency facing you. What would be considered an appropriate action for a rainstorm may not be safe in a tornado. As I mentioned, my horses aren’t stabled so make their own decision about where they would be safest. Even in a raging rainstorm, which we get in the winter, I don’t interfere with that decision. But, because I live in a forest, on a hilltop, in a dry climate, I have to consider wildland fires (I’m also almost on top of the San Andreas faultline!). If I were forced to evacuate immediately and for some reason couldn’t take my horses, I would turn them loose and close the barn doors. I would open up all gates except the one to the road and trust them to find a route to safety. They would then have the option of hunkering down in the pond which is in a depression, or going off the back of the property and either along the ridge or down the mountain. But not everyone has the luxury of making that choice. YOUR choice may be to evacuate in the face of exteme weather to escape a dangerous home situation.

And, you might as well throw barn fires into the equation. The Connecticut Horse Council has a Horse 911 program that helps you figure out the dynamics of barn fire safety. Barns are fires waiting to happen! My book also has a chapter on barn fire safety written by the Horse 911 author, Halide Caine, and Jeff Galloway, who teaches barn fire safety classes through Emergency Training Systems.  Laurie Loveman’s website is dedicated to barn fire safety and has stat on barn fires that will curl your hair.

A little planning and knowledge of your own personal situation will go a long way toward protecting your horses.

On the other hand, if you are hysterical and interfering with a rescue in a way that makes the rescue more difficult or less safe for the ERs, you will be set aside and your “words of wisdom” will be disregarded.

Most ERs do NOT know how to handle horses or other large animals. If you see a responder doing something with an animal that you KNOW is harmful, you need to step in before someone – animal or human – is further injured. It helps if you can speak their language and you know basic scene protocol.

There are three steps you can take toward ensuring your horse’s safety in the event of any incident where you would expect your local ERs to help out.

The first would be to connect with your local ERs, especially your fire department. By talking with them you will learn just how much they know about rescuing large animals. That is your “baseline”. Explain to them your concerns about THEIR safety and the safety of your horse. Showing your concern for THEIR safety first and your horse second will win you “Brownie Points”! If they don’t have much experience, offer to help. You can introduce them to your horses, teaching them about horse behavior and how to keep themselves safe around horses. (You can use the “Horse Awareness and Safety class” offered at http://www.redjeansink.com)

Second: By learning about the Incident Command System (ICS) you will further your cause by understanding the protocol for emergency response and your possible role in a response. (You can take a free class on ICS on the FEMA website, http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is100.asp)

Third: Learn about Large Animal Rescue. Once you understand how to communicate with ERs you’ll need to know what to say. A good place to start is the Large Animal Rescue website, http://www.saveyourhorse.com

Here are a few tips about trailer accidents – for both you and the ERs – to start you on the road to LAR safety.

DO NOT open ANY door to see what’s going on inside. Find the smallest opening possible and peek in. An open door is an invitation to the horse to escape, even though he’s injured or trapped; even if the opening is impossibly small.

DO NOT approach the scene of an accident with squealing tires and horn blaring. If you are at the scene before the ERs arrive, send someone down the road to stop them, or when you call 911 have dispatch tell them to approach silently. Have them turn off sirens and flashing lights.

QUIET! Remove as much of the chaos as possible. If the incident happens in a crowd, establish an area around the horse that’s empty of everyone who does not need to be there and is quiet. If it’s a trailer accident, SAFELY stop traffic and keep bystanders away.
DESIGNATE a “safe area” before you remove the animal from the trailer. You want to avoid a “secondary incident” – safely remove a horse only to have him jump up and run into traffic. Surround the scene with vehicles in a circle. Use fencing if you have it available. Use fire hose to create a barrier, reinforced with humans to “encourage” the horse to stay in the area.

DO NOT use the horse’s legs, tailbone or head as handles. Horses are not built like humans and are easily broken.

Hopefully these few tidbits of information will pique your curiosity about LAR and you’ll want to learn more. Your horse’s life could depend upon it.

The short answer is, encourage them to train in Large Animal Rescue. There are instructors throughout North America who would be happy to set up a class in your area, including in other areas of the world. Check the Large Animal Rescue website, SaveYourHorse.The reality is this: Most response agencies in the US, Canada, and throughout the world have cut back on training and staff because their budgets have been cut. This means that specialty training, such as swift water or large animal rescue, is often not encouraged or funded.

Some agencies require their responders to continue their education, and some LAR classes carry CEUs (continuing education units). In this instance, motivated responders may be encouraged to take the classes – usually because they either own horses or because they like them.

When speaking of response agencies, although all should be trained, the most important to train are the fire departments. They are the folks who are the “doers” at the scene of an incident. They have the skills and equipment to remove critters from entrapment.

Animal Control is usually the LEGAL authority; Law Enforcement handles THE SCENE security; the large animal vet is the MEDICAL authority; the owner is the FINAL authority; and fire is the PRIMARY resource for technical skills. The Incident Command System, or ICS, is the framework that allows inter- agency communication and efficiency of response.

Response agencies work under the Incident Command System (see FEMA to learn more; FEMA also has 3 animals in disasters classes). Anyone can sign on to the FEMA site and take the class, as well as others in disaster management. If you want the ear of your fire department, taking the class will help you speak their language, and garner you some respect.

Like most professionals, responders are not always open to hearing from non-professionals. If you have a community group that already has the ear of the agencies, work through them. Otherwise, make sure YOU are well educated about LAR, and then approach the training captain of your fire department. If s/he is not willing to hear about helping horses because they are animals and not the responsibility of the fire dept., you can point out that fire departments are charged with protecting people and property and that horses are a $112 billion industry in the US ( I don’t have figures for elsewhere; the $112 billion is from a study in 1996). That gives horses value as “property”. Suggest s/he visit the LAR website to learn more about the subject.

Oftentimes, responders have never had contact with large animals and are justifiably leery of being around them. One thing you can offer your agencies is to set up a “hands-on” class for their personnel. When we set up LAR training in our area, after two days of working with large horse dummies and learning all the techniques, the responders were still afraid to approach live horses, especially our Animal Control Officer! Because of this, I designed a “horse basics” CD-Rom (Horse Awareness and Safety) with a classroom slide show, then a hands-on class using kind and patient horse/handler teams.

Remember, when you are talking with people whose job it is to put their lives on the line every day, there is a certain bravado or “machismo” you need to overcome with respect ( and charm! ). Leave several brochures or flyers or just printouts listing websites for the responders to read and follow up on their own.

My “perfect world” would have a team of responders trained in LAR, with the proper equipment, in each area or community. Each fire district would have a copy of my book on LAR in its library. Horse Awareness and Safety would be made available to every responder. And, every horse owner would know about LAR and would work within his or her community to assure that all responders were given the opportunity to get up close and personal with a horse in a controlled environment, LONG before they ever had to use the skills in an incident.

OH! By the way: Make sure your large animal veterinarians know about LAR. They have the animal skills but don’t understand how to work with agencies. They need to be “in the system” and their contact information needs to be in the hands of the dispatchers who will be calling on the agencies to report to an incident.

If YOU call 9-1-1 to report a large animal incident, don’t forget to tell the dispatcher to send a large animal vet. They may not know to do that.

There is no short answer to this. I have written extensively on this subject in my book;
Cherry Hill helped me with my information, and has written books on the subject, such as “Trailering Your Horse”.

LEARN to safely haul a trailer before you put a live animal into it. Drive in all weatherconditions; ride in the trailer around your property to feel the stress it puts on your horse.

TRAIN your horse to travel. Don’t assume your horse knows HOW to ride comfortably in a moving cave.

BUY A TRAILER THAT IS SAFE for your horse. This means taking into account his comfort, as an uncomfortable horse can become agitated, causing the trailer to become unsafe. It should be long enough, tall enough, if it’s a slant load it should be WIDE and TALL enough (a lot aren’t: know how to measure it), has good ventilation and is light colored with cushioning on the floor to keep it cool. Road heat in the summer can fry a horse, both physically and emotionally.

GET THE RIGHT SIZED VEHICLE to do the job. Even if your truck is rated to tow the weight, a scrambling horse puts extra stress on the truck and can cause it to become unstable.

NEVER load a horse facing backwards unless the trailer is specifically designed for rear-facing travel. This puts excessive strain on the hitch.

NEVER hitch a “bumper pull” trailer to a bumper.

ALWAYS load a single horse on the left side or tie on the left side of slant loads, if at all possible. Most roads are “crowned” which means they are higher in the middle.

ALWAYS hitch so that your trailer travels level. If your horses are always standing uphill they may scramble or constantly shift position to compensate for the angle.

ALWAYS check your tires before you start out. Under inflated tires can cause sway.

ALWAYS check your trailer before you start out, stop down the road a mile or so to make sure everything’s riding properly, and check after each stop.

NEVER allow your horse to stick his head out a window when you are in motion. If you are using a stock trailer, put a fly mask on your horse so bugs, hay and rocks don’t hit him in the eyes (at 70 mph!)

ALWAYS be prepared. Carry first aid kits for your horse, your self, your vehicle and your trailer. Your kit should contain identification for you, your horse, and if your dog rides with you, him too. Your I.D. should detail who to contact in case of emergency and have pictures of not only the animal but YOU WITH your animal.

My publisher’s website has free I.D. sheets to download Red Jeans Ink.
USRider provided me with a “Limited Power of Attorney for Health Care” and “To Emergency Responders” so I added them to my book. Copy, fill out, keep one copy with your kit and one with your emergency contact.

Program your emergency numbers in your cell phone and designate them with the acronym ICE. Ex: ICE-Sally. This tells responders to call Sally In Case of Emergency.

Spring is almost here, and with it comes good weather. We’re all anxious to be playing with our horses, whether on the trail or competing in shows. Now is the time to make sure your trailer will be ready when you need it.

If you’re like most of us, your trailer has been sitting idle over the winter. Harsh weather takes its toll on mechanical equipment, so it is wise to go over your trailer with a “fine-toothed comb” before hitting the roads. Writing down a plan and sticking to it is the safest way to make sure all problems are fixed; all areas of concern addressed.

Start by taking some pictures of the trailer from the front, sides and back. Print them up on plain paper s o you can write over them. List the main areas you need to check on the back of one sheet, and then start a visual check of the trailer. These areas are: tires and wheels, floor and body, brakes, hitch, wiring, suspension, safety equipment including first aid kit.

Checklist:

TIRES AND WHEELS

• Are tires in good condition? Look for bulges, slices, bare spots, worn tread.
• Are tires the right size for the load?
• Rotate the tires (including balancing and properly inflating them.
• Clean and repack wheel bearings and replace seals.
• Are the wheel lugs tight? Are they all there?

FLOOR AND BODY

• Check for floor for soft spots, rotting, splintering. This includes the ramp if you have one.
• Replace damaged floor boards and treat floor with a preservative.
• If you are using mats, do they fit snugly? Are they worn and need replacing?
• Check metal for rust.
• Check fiberglass for damage.
• Check the registration to be sure it’s up-to-date. Make sure the license plate is positioned so there are no sharp edges exposed.
• Check and oil all hinges, dividers, doors, locks, and windows.
• Check all gaskets and molding to ensure good fit of windows.

BRAKES AND HITCH

• Clean and oil the jack stand.
• Grease the ball and the coupler.
• Inspect and service the brake drums and wheels.
• Check fluid levels and lines to hydraulic brakes.
• Do a loaded and unloaded drive test to check for even stopping.
• Inspect emergency trailer brake battery.
• Check levelness of hitched trailer.

WIRING AND SUSPENSION

• Do all the lights work?
• Is the wiring intact, clean and secured?
• Grease the springs, shackles if appropriate.
• Check shock absorbers and bushings.
• Tighten up the axle bolts.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

• Is your first aid kit complete?
• Is your truck and trailer safety kit complete?
• Do you have extra halters and lead ropes?

By spending the time to prepare for the road, you help to ensure the safety of your precious cargo, yourself and your fellow travelers. Happy trails!

Written by Michelle Staples

Author of Save Your Horse! A Horse Owner’s Guide to Large Animal Rescue and the “Teach It Yourself Class” Horse Awareness and Safety. You can contact her through the Large Animal Rescue website, www.saveyourhorse.com or info@redjeansink.com. Type “Contact author” in subject line.

Hay Barn Fire - More Images

Fire strikes fear into the heart of all horse owners. It’s fluid and unpredictable, it’s fast and it’s deadly. According to the National Fire Protection Association, in a typical year, from 1999-2000, there were approximately 5,800 barn fires. Apart from the staggering financial loss, one person and thousands of animals died – chickens, livestock and horses. What the NFPA found in investigating these fires was that most were preventable. Barn fire safety specialist Laurie Loveman has been tracking fires on her website, www.laurieloveman.com for several years. Even a cursory glance at the amount listed is chilling – 16 pages of fires in under 2 years.

In order to PREVENT fire you need to know what CAUSES it. Fire is a living entity that needs three things to survive: heat, oxygen, and fuel. This is called the fire triangle, and the combination of these three elements creates a chemical reaction: fire. An open flame, like a match, is the most common source of heat. Add fuel in the form of hay, straw, or wood, and the fire will grow. Add a breeze to fan the flames and you have a raging inferno. Take away any one side of the fire triangle and the fire will diminish, eventually dying. Dump dirt on a fire, you smother it. Add water and you remove the heat.

One of the three major causes of stable fires is hay. Sometimes hay is not cured properly and is baled when it is still damp. This is particularly true of clover and alfalfa hay. Other times, your hay delivery might arrive on a rainy day and is loaded into the stable covered in moisture. Perhaps you’ve stacked the bales directly on the ground where they can wick up water once the soil around the stack becomes wet. Or the roof of your hay barn springs a leak and you don’t notice the dripping of water onto the stack.

Although hay normally goes through cycles of bacteria forming and dying as part of curing, if heat-loving bacteria are present, and the bales stay warm, spontaneous combustion can occur. (PDF: http://www.eqgroup.com/Pdf/hayfire1.pdf) As you use layers of bales you may find your eyes water when you’re around the stack, or you notice a “sooty” odor. Hay can smolder for quite a while, but when oxygen is introduced, it can flare up into fire.

If you suspect your hay may be damp, make sure you’re prepared for fire BEFORE you move the bales since they can ignite when they’re moved. If the stack is large you may want to have the fire department on hand with their professional fire fighting equipment.

Ideally, hay should be stored in a separate building – a hay barn – separate from your stable, and in multiple small stacks instead of one huge stack. Put your hay up on pallets so it’s well ventilated, and make sure there are no leaks in the roof that will soak the bales. And plan delivery of hay on non-rainy days.

What are the other most common causes of stable fires?

According to Jeff Halloway of Emergency Training Systems in Tennessee, 85% of all stable fires are the result of human negligence. The two leading causes are smoking and electrical equipment. In other words, carelessness.

Vulnerability Checklist IN the Stable:

• Do you allow smoking around your stable? There shouldn’t be any question about this one. It’s a no-brainer. Cigarettes, lighters, matches, coupled with hay, straw, dust, cobwebs. There are NO safe smoking areas around a stable. At all. Ever.
• Do you allow cobwebs to build up, especially around light fixtures and appliances? Believe it or not, cobwebs are one of the major causes of stable fires. The fire runs along the webs, dropping burning bits into hay and straw, starting fires all along their path.
• Do you unplug all appliances when you’re finished using them?
• Is all your wiring safely run in conduit, or are extension cords and wiring left exposed where horses or mice can chew on them? Do you have wire hung over nails? Are you using residential level outlets and extension cords?
• Do you dry wet blankets on a heater?
• When you clip your horses, do you set the hot clippers down in a dusty area or on a hay bale?
• Do you have fire extinguishers? There should be one at each exit door. If the stable is particularly long, put one at the half way mark. Figure on one every thirty feet, or so.
• Did you know that the most common fire extinguisher weighs 5 lbs. and lasts for 9.2 SECONDS?
• Did you know that most people who HAVE fire extinguishers have never used one, don’t have a clue if they are operable, and have no idea the best kind to use?
• Do you have a phone? Every stable should have at least one and it shouldn’t be buried at the back of the tack room, under a pile of blankets. Next to the phone there should be written directions to the stable, the physical address, as well as all emergency contact information like veterinarians, home, work and cell numbers for anyone with a horse in your stable.
• Do all doors either slide open completely or open outward? They should never open inward. Latches should be easy to operate with one hand.

OUTSIDE the Stable:

• Do you have a clear, non-flammable space around your stable?
• Is there a pathway of burnable material leading from the road directly to your stable?
• Do you park your vehicles close to the stable? Maybe on grass? A safe distance would be about 50 feet. That includes tractors, lawn mowers, and chainsaws – anything that runs on fuel.
• Do you refuel your tractor in or near the stable, or keep cans of fuel in the stable? Gasoline vapors are heavier than air. They will settle in depressions in the floor of the stable such as drains or beneath the foundation. Just pouring fuel from a can into a vehicle fuel tank allows vapors to escape.
• Do you have broken glass on the ground near the stable? Summer sunlight passing through the glass will cause the grass under it to ignite.

There are so many ways you can encourage fire. But, take heart! There are also ways to discourage fire. By being proactive you can “fire proof” your stable. Put things away when you’re finished with them, like tools, tack and buckets. Sweep up loose hay and straw. Keep the outside clean, as well. Build a fire barrier alongside the road and the driveway. Keep tractors, vehicles or other fuel-powered tools away from the stable and always fuel them in an area that’s well-ventilated and safe. Throw away the ashtrays and ban smoking around your stable. Spend a day upgrading the wiring. The little steps you take now — the occasional “clean up day” and regular vigilance — will help you sleep peacefully at night.

Written by Horse Safety Specialist, Michelle Staples. Her book, Save Your Horse! A Horse Owner’s Guide to Large Animal Rescue, is available at www.RedJeansInk.com or the Large Animal Rescue website, www.SaveYourHorse.com

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you design your fire plan:

• Do I need to rearrange the parking area so that emergency vehicles have a clearer access and room to turn around?
• Do emergency vehicles have easy access to my property?
• Do I have defensible space around the stable or do I need to clear up debris or vegetation?
• Where are the fire extinguishers located? Do we need more? Are they ready to use? Does everyone know how to USE a fire extinguisher?
• Where are the halters and lead ropes? There should be a set outside every occupied stall.
• Will the horses leave the stable? Can they be blindfolded? How will they react to firefighters in turnout gear? Train your horses with firefighters in SCBA gear. This new type of human, combined with the awful smell that accompanies them, can un-nerve even the most bomb-proof horse.
• Are the most vulnerable horses stabled closest to the exits?
• Is there a phone in the stable? If the stable is large, are there phones at each end of the stable?
• Are emergency numbers posted by the phone? Who gets called?
• Is there a hose at each end of the stable? Are they long enough to reach down one length of the stable?

A large boarding stable came up with a great idea. The owners put a box near the main entrance, similar to the “break glass in case of fire” boxes you see in commercial buildings. Inside this particular box were 20 white lead ropes — enough so that each horse would have one — wrapped with reflective strips, with large, easy to handle snaps.

A small reflective metal sign next to the box had instructions for rescuers:

1. Stand on the left side of the horse and clip the rope to the halter (headgear). If the horse does not have on a halter, clip rope around horse’s neck.
2. After exiting the stall, close the stall door behind the horse.
3. Lead horse to safety area, marked X on map. Secure safety area after horse is inside. Horses are herd animals – they feel safer in groups.
4. Emergency numbers, such as vets, police, fire, owners, etc., were then listed, as well as directions to the property with distinguishing landmarks. A map with the stable layout was posted next to the sign.

This is an inexpensive and responsible way to help your local rescue people save the horses in your stable.

Plan to hold fire drills, especially if you house horses for other people. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Hold a meeting to talk about fires, the strengths and weaknesses of your stable, and the roles that will be activated in the event of a fire.
• Practice using fire extinguishers.
• Hold a “Fire Ready” day with boarders, to clean up the stable area and make it safe.
• Plan a meeting between local horse owners and fire personnel. Learn the typical response time in your area and what the fire departments would like you to do to help make their job easier.
• If you have young boarders have a “safety day”. Hide “fire” – this could be either pieces of red cloth glued onto cardboard, plywood “flames”, or sheets of colored paper with the word “fire” printed on them – in inconspicuous places like the hay loft, a pasture, the tack room – then send the kids out with cardboard fire extinguishers. When they find the fire they have to leave their extinguishers at the spot and bring back the “fire”. Another idea is a scavenger hunt. Hunted articles could be fire, dummy fire extinguishers, cards next to phones with “call 9-1-1” written on them, pictures of hose hidden under your barn hose. The possibilities are endless! And fun!

Written by Horse Safety Specialist, Michelle Staples. Her book, Save Your Horse! A Horse Owner’s Guide to Large Animal Rescue, is available at www.RedJeansInk.com or the Large Animal Rescue website, www.SaveYourHorse.com