Large animal rescue seminar

Hi guys,
Last night a student and I attended a seminar on large animal rescue.
It was aimed at horse and cow owners as well as SES and other emergency personel.

I found it really worthwhile.
It covered things like PROPER disaster planning, what to do with a horse stuck in mud, in a trench, an overturned float. Correct ways of attaching winches and straps. As well as handy tools to have around.

I took away a few really important tips.

Emergency response kits should include
Reciprocating saw ( battery operated)
10cm webbing straps
An extendable walking stick
Rope

When floating
Reflective tape on the float so it can be EASILY seen at night.
Have your float throughoughly checked regularly

The presenter didn't like fiberglass floats or single floats.
Apparently tip overs with fiberglass floats tend to be worse
And with single floats more common.

Horse in mud. DON'T DIG.
Get air and water around its legs then drag sideways across mud

If you leave a cow lying down it will die

If you have fencing have something that can cut it and learn how to use it.

Has anyone else been to one of these?

And helped at a few. The home base for TLAER (TLAER, Inc.) is about 1/2 mile from me.

One of the things that Tomas always mentions during the trailer rescues is having a plastic sheet protector attached to the inside of the tack room door on your trailer with the following info:

1. Horse(s) names, ages, owner name and contact info
2. Emergency contact that has the authority to approve emergency vet care including $$ amount owner is willing to spend and authority to approve euthanasia if need and owner is incapacitated (emergantley removed from scene or unconcious)
3. Insurance info (including company, policy number and 24 hour contact info) if horses are insured.

These three items alone can be very helpful to first responders at the scene of a trailer accident in determining how to procede.