"Prepare" Means Get It Done Now!
• Practice loading your horse both during the day and at night with only the truck and trailer lights and take a short drive.
• Synthetic and nylon halters can melt and burn your horse. Don't use them if fire is surrounding you! It is best to have a leather halter, and a cotton lead rope. Remove blankets, leg wraps, and fly masks. They catch fire easily.
• When you receive warning of impending flooding, evacuate to a non-flood risk area as soon as possible. Don't feel you are jumping the gun by loading your horses and hauling them to neighbors across town or to the fairgrounds or to other designated areas (stables, racetracks, private farms, stockyard companies, rodeo arenas, show grounds, local educational institutions, etc.). You are avoiding becoming a problem for emergency personnel, which would occur if you stayed too long then tried unsuccessfully to evacuate.
• If you plan to evacuate in the event of a storm, have a destination and routes thought out well in advance. January, February and March would be good months to do this. Plan to leave at least 48 hours before the arrival of the storm. The worst thing that can happen to you is to get stuck in traffic with a trailer full of horses and a hurricane approaching.
When should you stay home instead of evacuating?
I look at the size of the hurricane. Anything above a 2, and I am out of here. It's not worth it. With tornadoes, there isn't a whole lot you can do. With blizzards, you know the storm is coming in. Most people in the north are equipped for blizzards, have the appropriate feed, hay to maintain them in cold weather. You need a generator on any kind of farm. That is my biggest thing.
You need to be able to provide the basic needs for you and your animals, them first. If you have a fire coming and it's traveling, nothing is worth staying for. It might cost you a little money when you are staying in a hotel and then end up turning around and going home, but it's not worth risking your animals' well being [to stay]. I am not a big one for "OK, I can handle this," because I have seen too much of the other side.
What should you do if you will have to leave your animals?
There are instances that you have no choice but to leave your animals, but you know they are survivors. You don't lock them up in a barn. You turn them loose in the best field you possibly can. Leave food and water in containers that can't be tipped over, and put it so rescue workers can get to it. Don't tie your animals. Leave them out, so that they can get away from rising water. They can get away from the danger. They will do that. Animals are pretty smart.
How should you identify your horses?
I am a big pro-microchipper. Everything needs to be microchipped. The thing that saved us in Louisiana was that the horses are required to be microchipped to have a Coggins, so the horses we found were identified that way. Also, if you're leaving, take a can of spray paint and spray your number on the side of your horse. I think any ID neckbands help. All my halters have tags on them, but . . . I know that's coming off. If I had to leave my horses, I would be out there with the biggest, brightest can of spray paint I could find.
How can you have a trailer at your disposal if you don't own one?
That is where you do the preparedness. If you don't have a trailer, find somebody that will help you get out if you need to get out. Let authorities know that you're there, and you have horses, and somebody will help you get out. Do not wait until it's too late.
What is the biggest mistake you see horse owners make?
The fact that they didn't take their animals and go. That was the first number-one thing. [During the hurricane rescue efforts] my husband was standing there, and this man came running up frantically, and he said, "I left my horses locked up, and I need somebody to go through and see if they are OK. And by the way, an eight-foot storm surge went through there."
Thank God, they had a lot of people that were going through and knocked the doors down, and let the animals out. And it just so happened that someone came to this guy's barn, and he only lost one horse and that was a mare. But his dogs were in crates in his house . . . You have to be responsible. They rely on your to protect them, and they have a natural instinct to flee danger. When you can't get them out you have to give them that opportunity. Make sure that they are identified and let somebody know where they are.
A Final Note
Dunn recommends the American Veterinary Medical Association's booklet, "Saving The Whole Family," available at http://www.avma.org. You can reach the AVMA by phone at 847-925-8070.
In addition, Habitat for Horses has written a booklet that Dunn says will be available online soon. Check www.habitatforhorses.org or call them at 866-HFH-LSER.
