BY katie navarra. Natu ral. Planning for. arabian horse. Modern. Issue 4 / 2013

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1 BY katie navarra Natu ral Disa Planning for 36 Modern Issue 4 / 2013

2 has seen deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma, fierce fires in Colorado and devastating flooding in New York. Take action before Mother Nature is threatening your family, property, horses and pets, and take time to consider what you would do if faced with a natural disaster. Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy, says Max Mayfield, Director of the National Hurricane Center of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. sters Get ready It may be hours or it may be mere minutes before disaster strikes. Prepare in advance. Designate one halter and one lead rope per horse. The equipment should be in good repair and well-fitted. Familiarize your horses to halters and leading on a regular basis. Horses were stranded in the Grand Prix Fire in California in 2003 because they could not be haltered. Unfortunately some of the horses were more like pets to their owners and weren t used to halters or other people, said Amanda Waterfield-Gibson of Alta Loma, California. The fire department stayed there to protect them from the fire, which burned right up to the property line. Issue 4 / 2013 Modern 37

3 Waterfield-Gibson and her Arabian, Leprachan SCR (Pachole x Bekkah Ambrielle) have helped the City of Rancho Cucamonga horse owners, law enforcement and volunteers plan for emergency evacuations. During the Grand Prix Fire, 60,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountain foothills perished. Only a few months prior to the fire, Waterfield-Gibson had organized a training mission with members of the Alta Loma Riding Club and the local fire department to set up an evacuation plan. Leprachan SCR received the AHA Ambassador Award for volunteering with local law enforcement, and training with local fire department personnel and animal control officers on how to handle horses in both everyday and emergency situations. He has been a valuable resource in our training and preparedness, she said. Clearly identify each horse. The American Humane Society encourages horse owners to permanently identify each horse with a tattoo, brand or microchip. At a minimum, every horse in the barn should have photos taken from several angles. Documentation with the horse s age, sex, breed and color and registration papers should be stored in a water-tight bag in an easy to locate (1) (2) (3) (5) The Black Forest Fire, Colorado, June 2013, as photographed by Mary Jo Hoepner. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (4) 38 Modern Issue 4 / 2013 Fire when I first left to evacuate horses. Fire seen three hours later from behind my barn. Loading trailers. Fire as we left the farm. Fire as I drove up Vollmer Road to grab horses

4 Considerations for Preparing your Horse for a Disaster Situation Provided by the Jefferson County Horse Council, Golden, Colorado Prioritize: Your life and your family should always come first, then your animals, then your property. Insurance companies recommend that you have a video or photo inventory of all your important possessions. This should include your tack too! Be sure to check with your insurance agent about having proper policies and coverage. Make Prior Arrangements: Know your county s evacuation procedures and coordinate various plans, information and phone contacts with neighbors. Have a list of family or friends outside of your area who could house your animals if necessary. If your horses have current Coggins and shots, they may be welcome at most commercial boarding facilities.as a rule, horses picked-up by rescue workers will be taken to the local fairgrounds or a safe holding facility. For a worst case scenario, make sure you have designated someone to make legal, financial and care decisions regarding your horses. ID Your Horse: Have a halter and lead rope for each horse. If possible, have your name and an emergency contact number other than your home telephone (remember, you may not be home for some time!) on the halter. Dogtype ID tags can work well for this. If necessary, write the information with permanent marker on a duct-tape style collar or spray paint it directly onto your horse. Prepare your Horse: A well-mannered horse makes rescue efforts easier. Teach your horse to walk on a loose lead, to stand-stay at all gates and doorways until being led through, and how to load into a trailer easily and safely. Practice with as many different people and situations as possible, and even include teaching your horse to be tolerant of being touched all over his or her body. Prepare your Facilities: Keep your barn as safe as possible by selecting fire-retardant building materials and clearing trees, shrubbery, and underbrush 20 to 30 feet away from all structures. Remove cobwebs and check electrical wiring annually; and store flammables, feed, and bedding away from where animals are housed. Local fire departments and the U.S. Forest Service will offer other specific recommendations on further prevention measures. If you have a horse trailer, make sure it s in good operating condition. Are the floorboards safe? Are the tires properly inflated? Are the hitches and lights in good working order? Prepare an Emergency Information Packet: Using heavy sheet protectors or plastic brochure boxes organize all of the necessary paperwork where it can be easily seen and retrieved in case of an emergency. Provide information on each animal including: photographs and a written description; copies of registration/sale papers and brand certificates or travel cards; name and telephone of your veterinarian along with any known allergies, medical or behavioral condition(s); and detailed feed and care information including all supplements and medications. Also include a list of personal contact and insurance information. Prepare a Disaster Kit: In a large, waterproof container like a trashcan or Rubbermaid trunk compile the following items. First aid kit including: sharp wire cutters and a knife, bandage scissors, elastic wraps, towels, cotton bandages, compresses, adhesive tape, surgical or bacterial soap and/or saline solution, Epsom salt, fly repellent, antibacterial wound dressing, rectal veterinary thermometer, hoof pick, twitch, and duct tape. Prepare hay, grain and supplements in watertight containers Water bucket(s) and water or electrolytes if possible because many horses will not readily drink unfamiliar water Leg wraps and horse blankets Lead ropes, halters, or shanks Shovel or manure fork Portable radio, flashlights, and extra batteries Lime, soap and bleach (disinfectants) Prescription medicines and/or a copy of the prescription from your veterinarian so more can be obtained. Be sure to try and have a 10 to 14 day supply of as many items as possible. Blizzards or extensive disaster damage can block roads and prohibit you from getting in or out for extended periods of time. Time is of the essence! If possible, don t wait until the last minute to evacuate. Disasters can be unpredictable and spread quickly. Animals can also become uncooperative. Remember that accesses can become obstructed and heavy traffic may increase travel times. Anything you do now to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation may save precious minutes and even lives! AHA is developing a Family Emergency Preparedness Plan for members. Watch for updates. n Issue 4 / 2013 Modern 39

5 spot. Leave a copy in a visible place inside the barn for emergency personnel. When a storm, etc. arrives, have ID tags, such as luggage tags, that can be braided into the horse s mane or tail or easily affixed to a halter. If all else fails, your cell phone number can be spray painted across your horse s side. Pack at least three days to one week s supply of necessities. Stock up on water, feed and hay. Horses can survive without grain, but do require hay and water. Horses consume gallons of water each day, said John Haven, Director of University of Florida Veterinary Medicine, What if you lose electricity? A generator may be necessary. You have to be prepared to get water to your horses. Compile a list of local horse owners. Have a list of horse owners in your area including their cell phones, and addresses, said Mary Jo Hoepner, an Arabian horse owner threatened by the Black Forest Fire in Colorado in June As a community we need to keep in touch in any disaster and you cannot count on land lines to remain available. Located just outside the Black Forest Fire evacuation zone in Colorado Springs, Hoepner remained on her farm with her two Half-Arabians. The fire started on a Tuesday and she never slept until Sunday. I d stand behind the barn and watch the flames, she says, I knew if it crossed the line I only had 15 minutes to get out. Her suitcases were packed and the truck was loaded with hay, feed and supplies. All I d have to do is load the horses, the dog, cat, grab my laptop and I d be out of here. While she was waiting, she assisted others. It was hard deciding who I was going to help, she said. The Black Forest area is full of horses and there was only time to help one person. She headed down the road with her two horse trailer to help a friend. A Warmblood not keen on loading caused thousands of dollars of damage to her trailer. It put me in jeopardy, she says, I had to come up with a Plan B and a Plan C. If I had it to do over, I would leave. Stay up to date. Alerts from local news stations and reverse 911 provide regular updates. One couple here did not pay attention to the reverse 911 warnings. They did not make it out alive, Hoepner says. Stay or Go? The natural disaster, your geographic location and the time available before the storm will determine if you should evacuate or shelter in place. In Florida, we push shelter in place, Haven says, unless you are in a flood plain, Florida is such a long state that if it (the storm) doesn t land exactly where it was supposed to, it ends up where you tried to evacuate to. When sheltering in place, Haven considers pastures a safer place for horses during hurricanes as long as there are good fences and no high tension lines. Most of the horses injured since 2004 have been from barn collapses, not flying debris, he says, horses are smart enough to turn their body away from the wind. In a fire situation, horses can be difficult to catch as well as be dangerous to first responders who may not see them in thick smoke especially because the horse(s) might tend to stay on the roadways, says Andrea Raschke, vice president of the Colorado Horse Council and Jefferson County Horse Council Emergency Evacuation Team Office Manager. In a tornado, however, time can be even more of the essence in which case it s better to turn them loose and close the doors and gates behind them so they don t try and get back in. Talk with your veterinarian before a storm is approaching and find out what they plan on doing. What is your vet going to do? During Hurricanes Gene and Wilma, most vets evacuated, Haven says, then what if you have a horse that has an eyeball with debris or colics? When evacuation is the safest option, don t wait! Have multiple options in different directions, Hoepner suggests, I helped evacuate several horses. We moved the horses to what appeared to be a safe haven. Within 4 hours that place had to evacuate. Realize that if you help to evacuate other horses before your own, you stand a chance of not getting yours out. Remember the safety rule on airplanes affix the oxygen mask to yourself first before you help someone else, Hoepner says, in my case, my trailer was significantly damaged by an 18 hand Warmblood that went nuts. I was injured as well. I had to patch together my trailer enough to get my horses out. When friends, family or community members are unable to take your horses in, you may need commercial stables or designated emergency shelters. Identify which shelters will accept your horse(s). All shelters are at the horse owner s risk, and there are no guarantees that all horses will be up-to-date on vaccinations. Protect your horses by staying current on vaccinations. 40 Modern Issue 4 / 2013

6 Grand Prix Fire, California, 2003, by Amanda Wakefield-Gibson, showing from top to bottom a long range view of the fire, staging areas in Norco and Heritage Park and marked horses. Work with local law enforcement A few months prior to the Grand Prix Fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, local law enforcement and volunteers established the beginnings of an evacuation strategy and ran practice drills. When the fire accelerated and prevented people from getting into their homes or to their horses, law enforcement and volunteers were able to evacuate over 300 horses, goats, and even a buffalo. Once a horse was evacuated they were given an ID number. The information was then written on the horse s ID form and on the horse in grease crayon. This allowed us to track a horse when it went to the holding facility about 18 miles away, Waterfield-Gibson added, an owner could call, and we could find their horse in our paperwork. The aftermath It is on the forefront of everyone s minds to offer support and stay in contact during a natural disaster. Once the post-disaster phase arrives, it is difficult to remember people still need support. The Black Forest Fire in June 2013 left several Arabian horse owners without a home and/or a barn. In addition to local or national donations of hay, feed, water and supplies, organizations such as The Arabian Horsemen s Distress Fund (AHDF), a 501(c )(3), helps members of the Arabian horse community during times of difficulty that arise from unexpected, catastrophic situations. The AHDF is a crisis fund, says AHDF President Mary Trowbridge. We re non-bureaucratic and have a sixmember board to approve funds so we can respond right away, she says. However, she is quick to point out that the AHDF does not replace disaster or medical insurance and horse owners should have the appropriate insurance in place beforehand. We advise people not to think that it won t happen to you. Everyone needs to have a plan in place. Non-breed specific organizations like the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has also established permanent Equine Disaster Relief Funds to assist horse owners affected by disasters. Issue 4 / 2013 Modern 41