TTR: How did you become involved in equine-emergency response?
Scheve: Around 1995, some people in town formed an equine-emergency response group, because we live in such a horsey area that's also vulnerable to fires and hurricanes. My veterinarian, James Hamilton, DVM, was really excited about it. At lunch, he'd come over to our office, and Jim, Tom, and I would talk about what we could do to get a horse ambulance. We tackled design challenges: How could we lift an injured horse? With a sling? How could we transfer a horse into the trailer? How do we administer IV-fluids en route to a hospital?
From a clinical standpoint, Jim knew what we needed. It took our group nearly five years to design and raise money for an ambulance. Our company built it for cost. It's very convertible, with removable stall dividers and room for storage. It also carries 100 gallons of water and a generator, so it can be used as a field hospital.
Dr. Hamilton also became a team leader for the southeast Veterinary Medical Assistance Team, at the time, a part of FEMA and the Office of Emergency Preparedness. Jim really put his heart and soul into it, and I was a member of the team. The ambulance was available for VMAT use, too, to transport injured horses.
TTR: What was the most challenging equine emergency you've ever attended?
Scheve: We got the ambulance in 1999, just as Hurricane Floyd bore down on the East Coast. Our group had arranged for hundreds of stalls for emergency stabling at the local harness track, and we'd had calls for 300 to 400 horses that were going to evacuate the coast and use them. But Floyd fizzled, and most people stayed home.
However, a couple of days after Floyd passed, heavy rains started to flood eastern North Carolina. It was horrible: 100,000 hogs drowned, along with millions of chickens and turkeys - all of which created a huge sanitation problem. Caskets in cemeteries were unearthed and floated. We started to get calls from people who were swimming in this awful soup with their horses.
I went with two team members in the ambulance, but the roads were closed, and we couldn't get across the river to the flooded areas. Just a mile away, there were stranded horses and desperate owners, but we were stuck in a parking lot.
Finally, we drove 80 miles to get around the river. By that time, military helicopters were picking up horses with a sling, and we received them. We had fresh water to clean them. Tragically, days later, many horses' skin peeled off their legs, and they developed severe complications. Some didn't make it. It was heartbreaking.
When I went home, Jim called and asked me to go back. So, I spent a week helping veterinarians get settled, and set up shelters for hundreds of dogs and cats. It was an experience that I'll never forget.
TTR: How important is planning for an emergency?
Scheve: We encourage communities to start their own emergency-response units. People can learn how to ensure their safety if there's a tornado, hurricane, or fire; how to prevent a barn fire; what to do with your horses if you have a barn fire; how to prepare for snowstorms or power outages; how to get an evacuation plan in place. Often, it's hard to get people to plan because they simply don't want to think about disaster scenarios.
TTR: Complete this sentence: people would be surprised to know that I ...
Scheve: …..like many new horse owners, started out hauling my horses in some really unsafe trailers. I pulled a horse trailer with a 1969 Ford Falcon and used a horse trailer that (unbeknownst to me) had a broken axle! Thanks goodness I survived and so did my horses. I learned lessons the hard way.
TTR: What three people of any era would you invite for a lively conversation around a campfire?
Scheve: I'd invite my father, Elzie Kittrell, whom I never knew. And Walt Disney, a fascinating man, who is responsible for such a huge amount of fantasy in people's lives. And Steve Irwin, whom I would've picked even if he was still alive. I so admired his enthusiasm and passion for life.
TTR: What's the best book you've read lately?
Scheve: West With The Night by Beryl Markham. Actually, I reread it because it's so full of beauty and humor. Beryl Markham bred and trained horses in East Africa, and in the 1930s, she was a pilot, carrying mail and passengers to remote African locales. In 1936, she was the first person to fly solo, from east to west, across the Atlantic. She took off from England and crash-landed in Nova Scotia. She had an amazing life, and it's an amazing book.
TTR: If a genie granted you one wish, what would it be?
Scheve: That I could maintain the passion; that every day would dawn so exciting, I couldn't wait to get to it. I get passionate, but sometimes it's short-lived. Horses are my longest-lasting passion.
