Horse owners in many areas of the country face different kinds of emergencies and disasters on a regular basis. Whether the emergency is the result of a flood, a fire, a hurricane, a power outage, a stolen or lost horse, severe injury, illness or death of a horse, a horse owner should have a basic plan to deal with such emergencies.
Basic preparedness for emergencies and disasters is extremely valuable. Plans should be made to have a responsible, capable person who is willing to care for your horses if you are unavailable. This person needs to have visited your farm during normal daily activities to become familiar with the horses, the layout, and schedules required to care for the horses and any other animals.
Posting an emergency plan in your barn in a location that is obvious and that others know about is important. Basic information on routines, types and amounts of feed for each horse, which horse goes in what stall, turn out schedules, or any special considerations such as medicines or supplements would be helpful. Include an emergency number of a veterinarian(s) who can be reached in an emergency.
Remember to discuss this with your veterinarian so he/she is aware of what services you would approve of in an emergency. Describe each horse, including their name and vital information, to enable identification for the caretaker. Halters with name tags are helpful, but only if the caretaker knows and recognizes each horse.
If you need to evacuate your horse, make sure you have a method of transportation and a place to re-locate the horse arranged for. Make plans with someone who could take on this responsibility and provide the information for care and description of each horse in advance.
Discuss any fees for services with each person taking responsibility for your horses. An agreed-upon fee before an emergency event will certainly lead to less confusion and potential hard feelings.
In the case that you are able to keep your horse at your own location, consider buying a generator to keep well water and electric available or you will need to be equipped to handle large amounts of water needed for water intake.
Often in the case of power shortages utilization of well water in rural areas will be unavailable. Each horse requires 5 to 10 gallons of water daily, so this can become a problem quickly in a crisis.
Prior notice that a storm is coming, whether winter or summer time, fill each horse’s bucket and have one bucket per horse set aside as a spare. If the temperature is not below freezing, make sure that a large water tub or tank is full.
If there is snow on the ground, anticipate that the possibility of melting snow to be used as drinking water.
Make it a practice to have at least one week of food available per horse in advance and more whenever possible.
Whether in an emergency or not, there is always the dreaded reality of having a severely injured, or sick horse that makes the consideration of euthanization a necessity.
Take the time to discuss this with your caretaker or veterinarian and grant the authority to make a decision if you are unable to be reached and the horse is suffering. Include in your plans what to do if a veterinarian cannot be reached and the horse requires euthanizing.
If this unfortunate situation arises, plans for burial and disposal of the remains are necessary. Check the area where you live and know the requirements for burying a horse on your property. Have a list and phone numbers of four or five potential back hoe operators who could perform the service.
List those numbers on your emergency record in your barn. Know if your area has capabilities for carcass disposal if you are unable to bury the horse on your premise.
In cases of lost or stolen horses, know which authorities to turn to with prepared information including descriptions, markings and other pertinent information regarding your animals.
It is impossible to plan for every situation, but some simple planning can simplify caring for your horse in an emergency. In many cases, emergency plans for evacuation or care of horses on the premises will work in situations whether they are storms, floods, or fires, power outages or other disasters.
If you have questions concerning the care of a horse in an emergency situation contact your local extension office or the animal science program of a university near you.