I’m going to make a plug for having a tube of bio-sponge on hand. And a bottle of Equiderma lotion for rain rot/cannon crud/skin fungus. Even if it’s not fly season, I recommend having a fly mask on hand. One of my OTTBs likes to rub his face on the ground when he rolls. After two emergency vet calls for swollen and closed eyelid, I’ve learned to keep a mask on him when I know rolling is likely, and some eye ointment in case he gets puffy.
A plan & equipment for snow removal. We have a skidsteer, 2 tractors, a tractor mounted snow thrower and 2 walk behind snow throwers. Plus we know someone who can plow our driveway when it snows, in case we’re just trying to get to the horses. We get quite a bit of snow, and walking through 2-4" of snow isn’t fun.
Chain saw for fallen trees. We had one fall across the driveway, which could’ve been a problem if the vet needed to get here.
I love Nelson heated automatic waterers. A real lifesaver when you have 4-6 months of winter. We also have a reserve water tank that gravity feeds them in an insulated room.
Someone else who can feed & muck out. Really helpful if you get sick, injured or need surgery.
Spare utilities (hinges, latches, lightbulbs, etc…) They’re a pain in the butt to go get when you need them. It’s something you don’t think about until you actually need them, lol.
A generator for power outages to run refrigerator ,freezers and water pump if you live in the country. And not on city water. They come in handy when powers out for days due to bad storms. We have one and i’ve got gas cans filled so it’s ready to go here. Tornado sirens were going off at 5.28 am this morning,there’s more severe weather in forecast.
I also keep about a 2 to 4 weeks supply of feed on hand also.
Nippers, pullers, and rasp to take a mangled shoe off a horse and smooth the edges to prevent further breakage.
As far as medical supplies, I keep pretty much the same first aid kit I’ve always had for my trailer and show stuff, and a lot of it is dual-horse human use. Stuff like banamine and other prescription drugs - talk to your vet to get an understanding if you need that. Where you live compared to the vet will matter - are you somewhere the vet can’t get to same day, or do you live in an area the vet gets to every day?
Perhaps a bigger thing is just the random supplies that add up… a wheelbarrow, lots of buckets, two forks, a shovel, hay hooks, trash cans for storing grain, plenty of covered space to store supplies, scissors or a knife for cutting the hay, extras of essentials like halters. Extra snaps. A strong, safe place to tie all the animals you have on your place at once.
A basic kit to repair your fencing, your stalls, and your plumbing is quite essential too. What this kit should have will depend on your setup. Horses will break stuff at the most inconvenient times and places.
Some basic Oh Shit stuff along those lines are baling twine, wire, WD 40, duct tape, a hammer, wrench, screwdriver, pliers, and zip ties.
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Do a quick training session with your horse to make sure he will allow you to treat him without fighting you - soak a hoof, ice a leg, etc. You don’t want to find out that he is terrified of clinking ice cubes as you go to ice a leg.
I have halters/lead ropes in a couple different locations around the property - garage, house, run in shed, etc. If I have a loose horse with no halter on, I don’t necessarily have to backtrack to the barn to get a spare; there is probably one stashed somewhere in the general direction I need to go.
Also keep multiple pairs of scissors or a utility knife handy - just in case you do need to cut a horse free of something. I don’t have much stuff they can get tangled in, but horses are just so creative about getting themselves in a jam, you never know.
I keep Banamine on hand but don’t keep Bute. In a pinch, I can give the injectable form of Banamine orally or, for lameness, can give 10 tablets of Aleve. My boys don’t like the flavor of Bute, so we almost never use it. Also, I would not keep eye ointment with steroid around. My feeling is that I want the horse seen by a vet or a vet ophthalmologist before using a steroid eye ointment. I keep a new tube of antibiotic eye ointment in my emergency kit. If there is a swollen eye, I send a picture of it to the vet, then use the ointment. If the eye isn’t better in a few hours, she needs to see it. It is too easy to end up in big trouble with eyes.
If they start to act colicky, call the vet. Do not dose. An aspiration is hard to fix, and with somethings will cause a pneumonia.
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If you don’t already have them, keeping a clean set of no bows or quilts and standing wraps on hand is useful in case you need to wrap to cover a wound, etc. I’ve also found a battery-powered headlamp to be really handy as well. Great for those random times when you may need more light, but also need your hands free.
Best advice I ever got from my vet when it came to first aid kits: Don’t have anything in them that you’re not 100% confident and comfortable using.
This is hilarious! Otherwise you are getting plenty of great advice.
Some of these huge lists have my eyes bugging out! Wow.
Barn emergency kit: ABC rated Fire extinguisher. Spare halter & lead for each horse. Rope. Duct tape. Sharp knife. Bolt cutters.
Horse emergency kit: Vetricyn, iodine, rags & bucket, Silver wound spray, Swat fly ointment, sterile eye wash, Bute (watch the expiry date,) vetwrap & sterile gauze pads (I still have my original stash I bought 5 years ago.) Standing wraps & pads. Maxi pads & duct tape in case I need to wrap a hoof.
List of MULTIPLE emergency vets, because you too may have a horse impale her fetlock on Easter Sunday requiring you to call 8 vets before you find one available. Put your own address on that paper in case something happens while the horse-sitter is in charge, or you are so distraught you can’t think straight. I also keep a list of local boarding barns in case I need to evacuate for some reason.
