Least Resistance Training Concepts
(LRTC)

Volunteers Training for Emergencies

  Large Animal Evac and Technical Rescue Activities
June 15, 2016

  Wild Horse with a
Tomato Cage Stuck on his Head

We received a call about a feral range horse with a tomato cage stuck on his head. We responded with Rescue 3 and sure enough we discovered a somewhat stout weanling that was with a small band of horses that in fact had a tomato cage stuck on his head. The manner in which the cage's legs were sticking out caused the poor colt to stab his herd mates whenever he got close to another horse.

We called for the panel trailer and assessed the scene. The band was moving through a neighborhood on the edge of the open range and was located where several roads met, two that were school bus routes with nearby stops.

We spread out some alfalfa to keep the horses occupied while we waited for the panels.

Realizing that the panels would be a while before arriving and that school buses would be showing up soon, we decided to try to just remove the basket using the Rescue Clip.

The Rescue Clip is a device that holds an open caribiner with a rope attached that is clipped to the end of an extension pole. Once the caribiner clips onto something, such as a horse halter or in this case a tomato cage, it closes and pulls free from the pole, leaving the rope attached.

View of a Rescue Clip.

We placed a small "trail" of alfalfa near the colt with a larger pile at one end. One member sat down within reach of the Rescue Clip's pole from the pile which was laying nearby. Eventually the colt came up and started eating on the pile at which point the Rescue Clip was snapped onto a portion of the tomato cage. That portion of this call was relatively easy.

In the past these cages pulled right off but this one held fast. The colt wheeled and took off. The band, not only dealing with a member having a metal monster attached to his head but now with a 17 foot snake attached, took off for the hills. They finally settled in a relatively level portion of the range a couple of miles away

The responders spread out to try to encourage the band from moving off into the back country. Two visiting pre-veterinary students from Wyoming, Hannah Smylie and Colter Haman, were shadowing the team that day. They knew how to move with low energy around large animals and focused on quietly tracking the colt. They could get fairly close but the end of the Rescue Clip rope stayed out of reach.

As Coulter just meandered along with the group of horses, the colt turned in a direction that caused the rope to pull across the top of some rubber rabbit brush. Colter managed to reach over and pick up the rope. Then he followed the colt a little farther, slowly increasing tension until he had the colt stopped.

Things then got a bit "Western" as the colt fought the tension. Colter eventually was able to get better control over the colt, and while being very watchful for flying front hooves, the cage was successfully cut away and removed.

Once the rescue was complete and the colt released, the horses all went back to quietly doing their thing.

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