The idea for this post was sparked by the impending hurricane Irene (they really have to come up with better names for these hurricanes… I just don’t think “Irene” sparks fear in the hearts of people when they hear it. If they had a hurricane named Voldemort, for example, I would run away screaming for my life. Just sayin’) that is scheduled to wreak havoc on the East Coast this weekend. The experts are saying we haven’t had a storm of this magnitude for nearly fifty years. I certainly haven’t experienced anything of the sort since I moved to Pennsylvania. I do remember when I was young a hurricane that came through and knocked down our apple tree. Darn near snapped the thing right in half. It looked like someone came through with a chainsaw. In the case of a true emergency, evacuation is the recommended option. One particularly snarky news reporter informed everyone who lived at the Jersey Shore that if they did not evacuate to at least write down their information on a piece of paper and stick it in their shoe because that’s all the rescue crews were going to find of them. Crude, but effective.
For people with children and small pets, evacuation is not only the recommended option, is the best option. Pack up what you need, secure your house the best you can, and get the hell out of Dodge. But what about the other people? The people with 1,200lb animals that can’t be stuffed in the back of an SUV?
What about the horses?
The first thing you need to ascertain is the danger level. Storms can change in the blink of an eye, but with our weather radars and our satellites and our up to the minute reports, we should all have a pretty good idea of when, and how badly, a storm is going to hit. If you have a barn ten miles inland, you’re going to need to have a different plan than someone who has a stable one hundred miles off shore. Be smart. Do your research. Pay attention to weather updates and plan in advance. If you are in a danger flood zone, you need to seriously consider evacuating your horses and yourselves. Do not wait until the water is at your doorstep and traffic is backed up for twenty miles. Pack up the horse trailer and go as soon as you can, when the skies are clear and the roads are clear. The Horse.com just posted a wonderful article about equine evacuation here. Read it. Print it out. Follow it. The only other thing I would like to comment on is the necessary documents you will need to travel with your horse and get them to a place of safety (aka another barn). These include:
• Coggins
• Health Certificate
• Vaccination records
• Insurance records (if you have them)
These are all things that any horse owner should have. You never know when you will need to take your horses somewhere else and we all know how hard it can be to get a vet out to the barn on short notice. It is also nice to have a current (printed copy) of your horse’s feed schedule, supplements, and any other pertinent information. Something else to consider is where you will take your horses. Again, it pays to think in advance. Have another barn set up out of the flood/disaster zone (whether it be a layup barn, boarding barn, friend’s barn, etc) that you know always has available stalls. Give them at least a week’s heads up if you can, even if it is just to say that you might have to bring your horses in for a few days.
For those of you (I include myself in this category) who are not planning on evacuating, you still need to prepare. I have found there is a 50/50 split on what to do with your horses during a big storm. Half of the horse people think it is best to put halters on the horses and leave them outside in their fields; the other half says to leave them in the barn. I am going to leave my group of ten horses inside for a couple of reasons:
1) The barn is only ten years old and is STURDY. It’s not going anywhere and if something bad does start to happen regarding the structure I will be the first person to know since my apartment is right above it. 2) There are no trees or large branches around the barn that could fall on the roof.
3) If the horses are outside they are at a greater risk for getting loose. The last thing I want is ten loose horses running wild during a hurricane, or remaining in their fields and getting hit by flying debris.
4) I know my horse. If I left Darwin out in the field during a hurricane he would break through the fence to get back to his stall, probably puncturing some vital organ in the process.
I do understand the cons of leaving horses in their barn, the biggest being if the roof collapses or the barn floods. If I was still at my last job I would turn all of the horses out simply for the fact that the barn floods like a mother f'er and despite the risk of them getting through the fence or getting whapped in the head by a flying tree, I would rather have them outside then stuck in their stalls in two feet of water.
As with most things horse related, it is ultimately your decision on what to do. Be proactive. Have a plan, and then have a backup plan. Don’t expect the storm to act a certain way. Be ready for panicked horses, loss of electricity, and general all around chaos.
Best of luck.
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