We’ve had to evacuate in the past, and we’ve helped others to evacuate as well (fire, in both instances in the past).
All of our horses are freeze marked, so IDing them in an evacuation situation is simplified. All of thier information (including freeze marking info, registration papers, etc, are in the fire safe, easily at hand).
This is what we have in place:
- We keep on hand at least one halter and lead for each and every horse.
Years ago, a client who lived in a very narrow canyon that caught fire (in Santa Ana wind conditions), had nine horses on the property…and just three halters and lead ropes. No trailer, either. They handed the horses off to complete strangers walking out of the canyon, using longe lines, bailing twine and anything else that they could find, wrapped around the horse’s heads. I’ve never forgotten her story.
- Each and every horse we have knows how to load in a trailer, easily.
Same client above, had several who had never been taught to load. When help finally did arrive for her horses (humane society, etc), they couldn’t get over half of the horses into the trailers to be evacuated.
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Emergency first aid kits - both human and equine. Our vets have helped us to develop the equine versions, as we are out in the “boonies” and in the case of say, a catastrophic earthquake, our area could concieveably be cut off and on it’s own for a couple of weeks. We keep wound supplies, wraps, sterile cotton and such, as well as antibiotics, tranquilizers, and so on. Fly masks to protect eyes as best we can, also.
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Depending on the emergency situation and location, we have several places lined up that we can take the horses to, and those property owners understand that we may not be able to contact them in advance, either - just load and go. In addition, we have several contacts who would come in with thier own trailers…more on that, below.
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We have an emergency contact lined up out of state, who has agreed to relay messages and so on back and forth - should cell towers be out of commission and family and friends need to communicate.
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Emergency water supply is kept on hand, along with supplies to purify water. In a really tight situation, we could walk the horses about a mile to a reservior to water them a couple of times a day, if needed…or we could bring back additional water if necessary. Even should the dam break, there would remain some pockets of water.
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If we had to leave horses behind, we would write ID and phone numbers of the out-of-state contact as well as our own cell numbers in permanent marker on thier hooves. We might also paint phone numbers on them also.
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We keep a minimum of a couple of weeks’ worth of feed on hand. If marooned in place, the horses would have plenty. If we evacuate, a sudden change in feed isn’t a concern to add to everything else.
There is more to our plans that are in place, but the basics are here.
When we evacuated our own horses, we had five on the property (three of our own, and two of the neighbors) and just a two horse trailer at that time. We did, however, have a network of friends who came running with thier own trailers. Although road closures kept them from getting in, we were able to ferry the horses out of the closure area and transfer them to a waiting trailer, then as residents we were allowed to take back roads in to get the rest out.
Nowadays, we have just three on the property, and a three horse trailer in addition to the two-horse grin We could pull all of them out in one load, and a ton of other supplies as well (we do have two tow vehicles) - or we can help some nearby friends without a trailer, if need be.
When we helped someone evacuate 52 head last fall, they had a network of friends, clients and trainers who came running (naturally, thier own big trailer was in the shop!). They had a chart made up with which horse(s) went with whom, and where. Each and every horse had a halter and lead, with the horse’s ID, owner’s name, and contact info on it in permanent marker, on duct tape wrapped around the cheek piece of the halter, and they quickly loaded feed for the horses with each rig that left.
Oh…we also keep face masks/filters on hand, in case we find ourselves working in heavy smoke again. We also keep rags that we can dampen and hang from the halter nosebands and down over the horse’s nostrils to help as much as we can in that respect, also. The horses are all accustomed to that kind of thing anyway.
