LARGE ANIMAL RESCUE SKULL SESSION
October 21st

Horse with a Flat HOW THE INCIDENT WAS RESOLVED

Background. Lyon County, Nevada is home to close to 1,000 free-roaming horses that dot the hills and wander through the neighborhoods. Unfortunately they also occasionally wander onto area highways. Recently a large pack of coyotes had been causing trouble in town, eating mostly domestic dogs and cats. However they would also chase some of the horses. During the night the coyotes apparently went after a band of three young bachelor studs, running them over US-50 where one was struck and killed by a motor vehicle. The unfortunate horse was dragged from the highway where the coyotes returned to engage in a feast. This is the same horse that last year we removed a wire basket from his head. Later that day we received a call of an injured horse on a nearby street. The horse was identified as one that had been running with the horse that had been killed. The injured horse was reported as having difficulty getting about. One of the animal services officers responded and requested a response from the large animal rescue volunteers. The incident. You find an injured wild horse standing in the middle of a gravel county road. He is significantly lame on his right hind leg. There is four-foot tall barbed wire fencing on either side of the road. If the horse was sound he could likely jump the fence. As you approach you can see that he has hobbled over to one of the fences and is considering a jump attempt in spite of his injuries. You have available two initial responders with an Animal Services dog truck, the department's stock trailer enroute, the rescue team's portable panel cache enroute and two additional volunteers. The horse can be taken to the Department of Corrections Conservation Camp for treatment if he can be loaded in time to be delivered before they close for the day. Skull Session Questions What are your priorities? What are the safety issues? What resources do you need? Describe your action plan. Please post your answers to the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue group. Group Feedback. Once again the group covered virtually all of the key points involved with this rescue. Initial observations: The way the horse is standing he is probably injured in the right hind. His mobility is limited but he might try to jump the fence if pressured too greatly and would likely not clear it, risking entanglement in the barbed wire. In his position he could be spooked down the road or over the fence if everyone doesn't stay calm and organized. Organizational Details: Assign authority and functional roles / tasks based on the qualifications and experience levels of the personnel involved. Establish priorities, strategies and a safety plan. From there develop an action plan. Plan on containing the horse in a safe and humane manner. If the horse becomes agitated while setting up the chute, hay placed nearby can often be used as a calming influence. (Wild horses will usually recognize hay as food.) If a vet is available, have him / her evaluate the viability of this horse before moving him. Consider euthanasia if the horse exhibits signs of a nonrecoverable injury (i.e. displaced fracture.) Functional activities: Have someone stand near the barbed wire fence to discourage the horse jumping the fence. Block off the far end of the road with construction netting. Build a funnel chute with a gate. Form a "U" with the netting and slowly move the horse to the trailer. Load the horse as quietly as possible. Get the horse to a location where he can receive proper veterinary attention.   ACTUAL RESCUE ACTIVITIES A crew in one of the dog trucks responded to the scene to locate the horse. I responded with the stock trailer and called for the panel trailer and an additional two volunteers. The horse was in a section of road bordered by two barbed wire fences so we blocked the lower section of the road with our vehicles and stretched construction netting across the upper part of the road. One of the members stayed with the construction netting to raise and shake it if the horse decided to challenge it. One of the members stayed on the opposite side of the fence that the horse was looking over to discourage any attempts to jump it. We built a funnel chute with an extra panel placed so we could use it as a gate to contain the horse near the trailer. We backed the stock trailer to the funnel chute and slowly worked the horse down to the trailer by walking with the construction netting. The netting was shaped like an uneven "U" with the most forward part of the netting moving alongside the fence that the horse was initially looking over. Our objective was to "scoop" him off the fence line and encourage him to move down the center of the road. Once the horse was past the cutoff gate, we locked him in. Our next step was to move him into the trailer. He was a little sticky on this point however with the help of some construction netting and by giving him a few seconds to study the inside of the trailer and decide that it was safe, he went right in. "Charlie," as the rescuers named him, is presently recovering in the state corrals at the Stewart Conservation Camp in Carson City. He will likely be gelded and join a sanctuary herd. Go to Skull Session Index Return to the Strike Team LRTC Page

This material is intended for the use of the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) Facebook Group. TLAER is a trademark of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue.