This message is from: "Claudia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello,
The stories of trying to evacuate horses, or leave them behind, in the recent fires stories, are heartbreaking, and the letter from the Australian firefighter gave a lot of wonderful advice and things to think about ahead of time. It made me think about similar preparations in our area. We are not in a flood area, nor are we near forests which could burn, but in Wisconsin, the summer thunderstorms can be frightening and very destructive. After a huge hailstorm several years ago, which extensively damaged our property, I started being careful to put my horses in the barn if there were predictions of hail. Then during another awful storm, our neighbor's barn went down during the night, with the horses inside. I drove over in the morning and saw the wreckage and said, "Where are the horses?" and the neighbor responded, "In there." It was such a horrifying thing to contemplate, and it wasn't until later in the day that we heard a whinny from within the barn. So rescue efforts began, and although the horses were eventually freed, one was severly injured and had to be put down. Now I make sure my horses are OUT if there is a threat of severe weather. My barn has a large run-in at one end, so in the event of hail, they can take shelter in there if they want to. And if the barn should start to go, they can dash out the big open doors. I would be interested in hearing about other midwest emergency preparations. We all want to keep our horses safe, but I'm not always sure just which things are the safest. Claudia in central Wisconsin The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
