Preparing your farm for winter weather

Ice and snow in NC can mean loss of electricity for extended periods of time and dangerous or even impassable roads.  Having a plan, extra supplies and identifying possible hazards prior to the weather event can help keep you, your family and your animals safe and sound until everything thaws.  

A disaster plan is the first and most important step in preparing for winter weather.  You and your family come first so having a primary plan for keeping the people on your farm safe is priority.  The American Red Cross has lots of great resources for creating a plan for your family.  A winter weather plan for your barn would include things like who will be assigned particular chores or animals during the ice or snow, specific things to keep an eye on, such as watching for busted pipelines or frozen waterers, or exactly how much feed each animal requires per day.

Once a plan is organized and in place the next step is to make sure you have enough supplies on hand to survive for several days without anyone coming to or leaving the farm.  It is not unheard of for roads to be closed for up to a week under severe ice and snow conditions so you should have AT LEAST two weeks of extra supplies on hand when winter weather is a possibility.  This includes, hay, feed and any daily supplements or medications that your horse receives.  A back-up supply of water is also crucial to winter weather survival.  You will be without a water source if you lose power and your farm uses well water, or if a pipe freezes and bursts.  Automatic waterers will be out of commission as well if you lose power so extra buckets are a must.  An adult horse drinks 8 to 12 gallons of water a day so having a barrel or drum of extra water is a good idea since not many people have the time, or the room, to keep 50-1 gallon jugs of water on hand. 

Identifying possible hazards and putting them into your plan will hopefully keep weather related injury to a minimum.  Dead or weak limbs that may fall under the weight of ice, an icy pond that I horse may wander into or a tripping/slipping hazard in a high traffic area are all examples of possible dangers to make note of or correct prior to a winter storm.

As previously mentioned loss of power can create multiple issues so a backup generator is essential.  It is important to know how to operate the generator prior to needing it and also to have enough of a fuel supply to keep it running as long as needed.  Carbon Monoxide poisoning is a very real threat when using a generator so make sure it is in a very well ventilated area and NEVER indoors.

Snow days can be fun if you are prepared.  Keeping everyone, human or animal, happy and safe through planning and preparation will help ensure there’s plenty of time for horsing around. :)

 

Is Your Horse Farm Prepared for Hurricane Season?

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 each year. Even when it’s not hurricane season or when the season isn’t predicted to be as bad, it’s still a good idea to make your plans early and to work on preparing your horses for potential storms. Planning is the key to keeping your horses safe. Ensure your horse is up to date on all vaccines. Create a “plan” with neighbors and surrounding farm owners. Identify available resources in the surrounding areas. This includes an evacuation route, stabling locations, feed availability, emergency kits and ensuring your horses are trained to load into a trailer if needed. If your plans include evacuation, leave early enough to avoid traffic jams and the accompanying delays. Also keep in mind that management practices may change during an evacuation, so monitor your horses closely for dehydration and signs of colic or intestinal distress. The destruction each hurricane can cause is unpredictable. While there is no way to know if you will be affected by a hurricane, creating a plan will prepare you to handle any situation that occurs.

If you plan to weather the storm at home, these suggestions may help to keep you and your horse safe: • Have a minimum of a two-week supply of hay/ feed stored in watertight containers. Place those supplies in the highest and driest area possible. • You will need a minimum of 10 gallons of water per horse per day. Fill as many clean plastic barrels with water as you can, secure the tops and store them in a safe place near your animals. • Prepare an emergency barn kit that includes a light source, batteries, rope, chain saw, fuel, hammers, saw, nails, screws, spray paint and fencing materials. Keep this kit in a secure place before the storm. • Notify neighbors and family where you will be during the storm. • Collect identifying records for each animal, including a recent photo of each horse with a family member in the photo, medical documents, special needs, tattoos, microchips, brands, scars, any other permanent identification/markings, owner information and your veterinarian’s contact information. Place this is a secure location that you can reach after the hurricane. You may even consider sending a copy of these documents to a friend out of the hurricane’s potential reach, so the records could be retrieved later, if needed • Attach identification to all horses (fetlock ID tags, tags on halters, spray paint phone numbers on the animal or tie waterproof bag containing ownership information in the mane). • Turn off circuit breakers to the barn or area where horses will be kept (since a power surge could cause sparks or a fire). • Provide hay/water for each horse during a storm. • Remove any hazards from the area where horses will be kept. • If horses are kept outside, allow them access to higher ground.

Reference: LSU Ag Center

Safety in the Trailer – Use a Little Horse Sense

Loading and unloading horses in a trailer is where a high percentage of injuries to the horse and to the handler happen.  Most of the injuries to horses that happen in a trailer include scratches and gouges from sharp objects and corners, so one of the first things to do when getting ready to go to a horse show or trail ride is to inspect the trailer for sharp objects.  If there is one to be found, the horse will find it, so look closely.  Make any needed repairs to make the trip safer for you and your horse.  When moving down the road, keep in mind that the horse is not a thrill seeker on a roller coaster – keep acceleration and deceleration smooth and slow.   Take it easy when going around corners.  Drive to make it easier for the horse(s) to keep their balance.  If you have a two-horse trailer or any trailer with partitions between the horses, make sure the partition does not go all the way to the floor.  This limits the ability of the horse to spread its feet to maintain balance.

Many serious injuries to the handler happen while loading or unloading.  Cuts and bruises tend to be deeper, bones get broken, and other serious consequences can happen, especially when the handler gets into the trailer with a frightened horse.  Remember, the horse likely weighs at least five times more than a 200 pound person and is much more powerful.  If we can train the horse to load easily and remain calm, we’re ahead of the game.  It also keeps the handler out of the trailer most of the time, reducing the risk of injury.

Many horse trainers state that the time to teach a horse to load is before the horse ever sees a trailer.  Get the horse used to being on a lead line and responding to commands to go forward and to back up calmly.  Put a 4X8 sheet of ¾” plywood down and lead the horse over it – forward and backward.  Let the horse take its time to investigate the new surface, but don’t let it turn away.  Stay calm, sooth the horse, reward good behavior, and soon the horse will take the change in surface and footing in stride.  Make the horse back up over the board, to simulate backing out of the trailer.  As the horse progresses, start to incline the plywood to imitate a ramp into a trailer, or begin to raise the edge of the board to simulate getting into a step trailer.  Be sure that the board is supported and simulates a trailer bed.  Put the board in the entrance to a stall to get the horse used to walking over it going into a narrower, darker place.  Back the horse out of the stall now and then, again simulating backing out of the trailer.  Some folks even say to eventually stick a post under the plywood to create a teeter-totter effect, simulating how the bed of a trailer will move while loading. 

Eventually, the trailer will become the centerpiece of the training, depending on how fast the horse learns, and that is when the earlier work will pay off.  Once the horse gets into the trailer calmly, first close the gate, then tie the lead rope.  Let the horse stand in the trailer for a few minutes, then unload and tie to the side of the trailer.  Repeat the process, throwing in a few variables now and then as the horse gains confidence.  After working on this for a while, take a short trip around the barnyard and then unload, tie out, and repeat so the horse keeps learning and gaining confidence that it is OK to go into a trailer, ride around for a while, and then get out calmly.  A horse that stays calm and loads and unloads readily and easily gets both horse and handler off to a good start at the horse show, trail ride, or other equine event.

A big key in training a horse to load into a trailer is for the trainer to remain calm, yet be firm.  Sooth and praise the horse when desired behaviors are exhibited.  Don’t rush into things but allow the horse to inspect new things and decide they are OK, and give a reward for completing a task well.  This all helps keep the horse in the right frame of mind for learning and mastering new skills.  Keeping the “flight or fight” mode out of the picture makes learning go a lot faster, and will prove the old adage “fast is slow and slow is fast” true once again.

There is a lot more involved in trailer safety than making sure the truck and trailer are road worthy, and don’t have sharp objects to injure either horse or handler.  Since most injuries occur while loading and unloading horses, taking the time to ensure that a horse loads easily and stays calm during the process greatly reduces the risk of injury.  The time spent training before the big event of actually going somewhere will make the entire day a lot more pleasant.