Saturday, July 28, 2012

Saving Horses, wild or tame / Palomino pt.2


                                          Rocky's recovery: 4 feet off the ground, baby!

Palomino's report on Large Animal Rescue training


We spent the rest of the day at another training class where "Nigel", the training horse was buried and "trapped in the mud" and we used the proper tools to get him out. I did not know, prior to these classes, that you can literally pull a horse's hooves COMPLETELY OFF from the suction. We saw pictures of horses that were DEGLOVED from being pulled by their hocks to be moved. YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER MOVE A HORSE BY IT'S HOCKS WHEN IT IS STUCK. IF YOU HAVE TO PULL A HORSE WITH IT'S LEGS, THEY MUST BE PADDED SO THE PRESSURE IS SPREAD OUT OVER A LARGE AREA AND NOT JUST BY HIS ANKLES WHEN PULLED BY A ROPE. WE LEARNED THAT FROM THE CHEST FORWARD, UNDER THE STOMACH DOWN, AND THE TAILS ARE NOT SAFE FOR PULLING!!!!! WE ALSO SAW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PULL A HORSE BY IT'S TAIL. THEY CAN PULL COMPLETELY OUT AND YOU END UP WITH A HOLE BIG ENOUGH FOR A BASKETBALL WHERE THE TAIL WAS! SO PLEASE, MAKE SURE SOMEONE KNOWS HOW TO PROPERLY MOVE A HORSE IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY!! It's funny, because the more I know, the less I know.

Matt and I are members of the LRTC Large Animal Rescue & Evac team, and are taking the classes and steps to be ready to help in our own neck of the woods. One of the last rescues performed (in Nevada) by some of the members of LRTC and other professionals was the rescue of a 2200 pound draft horse that had fallen about 40+/- feet down a steep ravine. It took them over 8 hours to safely pull the massive horse down a creek bed, (using the tools we have been training with) to reach a safe point where he could be met by his trailer and taken to the vet.







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Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:20 PM

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