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What would you have done?

2K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 ·
Hi All!

Terra incognito . . . First off, lets see if this will load:

<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/david.hays.5201/videos/223571357692445/" data-width="500"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/david.hays.5201/videos/223571357692445/"><p>How NOT!!!!! To Unload Your Horse From Your Trailer. Brushy Creek Horse Rescue July 4, 2011</p>Posted by <a href="#" role="button">David Hays</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/david.hays.5201/videos/223571357692445/">Sunday, August 28, 2011</a></blockquote></div></div>
 
#3 ·
Nope. Facebook.

If you're on Facebook, search for:
"How NOT!!!!! To Unload Your Horse From Your Trailer. Brushy Creek Horse Rescue July 4, 2011", by "David Hays"

Moderators, any suggestions as to how to make this work?

So: A video of a horse, stuck halfway out of the window of a slant-load trailer. Several cowboys working on the problem; they have drug up an old picnic table and positioned it below the window, but the poor horse can barely touch her (later on, it looks like a mare) toes to the table. They have a couple lines on her nose, and someone goes into the trailer with a long board, presumably to pry against her butt. She gets pretty agitated, but finally struggles the rest of the way thru the window, somehow bounces off of the table (the video gets scrambled at this point; the photographer probably jumped), and comes up on her feet, apparently more or less uninjured. Yay!
But. I have serious issues with the way this rescue was conducted; in particular, that picnic table. If it had broken when the horse landed on it, rather than just an embarrassing moment, it would have probably been an equine 911.
I do not pretend to be an expert, and it's pointless to second-guess the past, but had I been there, I would have first: rigged a rope from inside the trailer, across the horses chest, to prevent the her from coming further forward. Second: positioned something under the window (the hood of a truck, with a couple floormats laid on it, maybe?)high enough to allow her to support weight on her front feet, and third: asked her to back up, back into the trailer.
I don't know, but that seems safer, and more humane, anyway.

Just curious what others think; sorry I'm too stupid to get a working link posted :-p Steve
 
#5 ·
I watched the video and I believe that I would have probably tried to get a couple bales of hay or something else soft for her to land on, since most of her body was already out of the trailer at that point. Going forward would be easier than going backwards at that point.

In this case, I would have treated it like a cast horse scenario - the second she felt purchase with her front hooves to move, she was probably going to start thrashing and flailing.

Hauling her back in didn't look like a great option to me, and at that point she might not have been able to fight against the weight of her front half enough to back up. I would also think that the second she was able to put weight on something, she'd probably panic again and try to go forward, so I don't think a truck hood would have worked. You might end up with a broken windshield or a totaled truck with a horse landing on it- or scarier still, going through it.

I agree that the picnic table looks SUPER rickety and unsteady, and they're lucky it held when she hit it, but it may have been a "use what you've got" panic scenario for everyone, especially if her body weight was putting pressure on her lungs and gut. I think I would have been more afraid of her starting to thrash when coming out, then falling in such a way that she landed with one pair of legs in the seat-hole and continuing to hurt herself by thrashing.

There's no really good solution here.

Just another reminder to people to keep the manger access doors CLOSED!!
 
#17 ·
I believe that I would have probably tried to get a couple bales of hay or something else soft for her to land on
http://home.pcisys.net/~the_wiz/images/video.mp4

Hay bales would have been a great solution here, and it's hard to believe that they couldn't have found a pickup load within 15 minutes, if they didn't already have a lot of bales between them.

The horse was remarkably calm, and somewhere between getting her feet on the table and giving her something to step up on with her hind feet, the emergency was over. As soon as she got her weight off that window sill, she didn't seem to be in any physical distress, and appeared to be happy to stand there for as many hours as necessary -- at least until somebody built a better landing structure than that picnic table.

Without being there, I can't say whether I would have decided that forward or backward was a better way to get her out. But I sure as heck wouldn't have pulled her out onto that stupid picnic table. I think by that point there was just way too much adrenaline flowing in the rescuers and all their brains quit working at the same time. They had all the hours in the day to resolve the situation and instead they did something risky and stupid.

One of the lessons in this episode is to imagine that this was your horse and you suddenly are surrounded by a bunch of strong-willed "helpers". How would you ensure that your wishes were respected?
 
#6 ·
Didn't see the video but your description did it justice

:twisted: Ollie got himself caught up on a fence once when he tried to mount a mare but missed when she moved so we used a three step mounting block to help get him back over. Picnic table + Mounting block?
 
#7 ·
The hood of a truck is as bad or worse an idea than the picnic table. Floor mats will do nothing. The hood will not get scratched. It will get crushed, along with other parts of the vehicle. Legs can get caught between the hood and the fenders. And if the horse goes through the windshield, there's even more to worry about. I doubt you could get the horse back in the trailer. Its' instincts and most of its' power call for forward.

This is just considering the horse. At some point, financial considerations must come into play. Unless that is a very valuable horse, the damage to the truck will be much greater than the loss of the horse. I can't think of any insurance company that would foot the bill for repairs in a case like that.

I think they did pretty good, using what was at hand.
 
#10 ·
Honestly I feel like it's hard to compare two emergency situations fairly, and I don't think I can personally criticize the people in the first video- hindsight is 20/20, and none of us know how we would handle a particular emergency until actually confronted with one. There are just so many variables, and you're depending so much on sheer dumb luck that the horse is calm, quiet, in a mindframe where they will actually listen and follow commands, and in exactly the right position for the maneuver to work. I feel like even trained fire fighters might have made a lot of mistakes here, one because most of them are not horse people and not all receive training on large animal emergencies.

If you've ever taken a CPR/First Aid/Rescue course of any kind, you know that one of the first things they teach is "help if you can do so safely". Creating a bigger emergency for responders to handle doesn't help anyone and makes the situation even more dire.

I'm sure that the folks in the first video did the best they knew how to do with what they had available to them in order to keep both themselves and the horse safe. It's a good example of some things you should and shouldn't do when confronted with a horse emergency, and maybe their mistakes can help others in the future.
 
#13 ·
Without seeing the video that sounds as good as could be done in the moment. Short of taking the trailer apart and the whole nine yards forward sounds safer than backwards (assuming she's mostly out) and as far as WHAT to land on? You really think a TRUCK is a good idea? Insanely dangerous not to mention ruining your 20k truck. Don't know if a picnic table is the best but not sure what else would work well and be easily accessible. They need something sturdy flat and elevated and wide and as safe as possible.

I'm not sure what other options there would be in an emergency situation. The horse needed to get out. Sometimes waiting to do things "right" is the wrong thing and honestly there is no "right" way with stuff like that.

To expand on why forwards not backwards (without watching the video, again) the horse will want to go forward and getting them backwards is more difficult (less room to work, horse will have to move more precisely etc AND you will have to be in the trailer with a panicking animal. Trailering is dangerous at the best of times. The horse needs to get OUT in whatever way possible. Ideally a vet would be on hand. It's not unlikely the horse will panic.

George, sometimes you can't wait around to decide which is ideal in the long term. If your house is on fire you may need to jump from the window instead of walking out the door.. A horse trapped in a trailer window WOULD be an immediate life or death scenario.
 
#14 ·
Sigh.

Yogi, she was _not_ most of the way out. Her head and front quarters were out, with her weight resting on the window "sill" just at her girth-line. My intent was _not_ to have her exit onto the hood of a truck; merely to use said truck to give her a place to put her front feet, and thus get weight off of her sternum. Once this was accomplished, she could stand like that all day if necessary until serious rescue equipment arrived. Didn't have to be a truck hood, either; a spare tire on the picnic table would probably have worked. I also suggested rigging a line across her chest to _prevent_ her from coming forward; they already had one around her girth; running that line back into the trailer and around something would have accomplished the same thing.
I don't have a $20K truck, but even if I did, it's just a Thing, and _things_ can be replaced. What's a dented hood, anyway? 'Couple hundred bucks at a junkyard and four bolts; done.
Watch the videos. In the one Kylie posted, a group of 5 or 6 guys basically grabbed the front of the horse (an animal in a very similar predicament), lifted it's front legs, and stuffed it back into the trailer. Say it's a large horse, and that part of it weighs 600lb. Not an unreasonable load for 5 or 6 average cowboys. And it worked great; almost a non-event. I _like_ it.

Steve.
 
#18 ·
Sigh.

Yogi, she was _not_ most of the way out. Her head and front quarters were out, with her weight resting on the window "sill" just at her girth-line. Your video loaded. It was laggy and I closed it, but saw enough to see the horses position and still think she should go forward.My intent was _not_ to have her exit onto the hood of a truck; merely to use said truck to give her a place to put her front feet, and thus get weight off of her sternum. Once this was accomplished, she could stand like that all day if necessary until serious rescue equipment arrived. Have you ever dealt with a truly panicked horse? I am guessing not. The MOST important thing is to get the horse out of there ASAP. That is also not the sort of trailer I would want to get the horse backwards intoDidn't have to be a truck hood, either; a spare tire on the picnic table would probably have worked. I also suggested rigging a line across her chest to _prevent_ her from coming forward; they already had one around her girth; running that line back into the trailer and around something would have accomplished the same thing.
I don't have a $20K truck, but even if I did, it's just a Thing, and _things_ can be replaced. What's a dented hood, anyway? 'Couple hundred bucks at a junkyard and four bolts; done. I agree, not everyone would, my concern is the hamburger meat your horse would be after that experience Watch the videos. In the one Kylie posted, a group of 5 or 6 guys basically grabbed the front of the horse (an animal in a very similar predicament), lifted it's front legs, and stuffed it back into the trailer. Say it's a large horse, and that part of it weighs 600lb. Not an unreasonable load for 5 or 6 average cowboys. And it worked great; almost a non-event. I _like_ it.

Steve.
I wouldn't say Kylie's video wasn't traumatic or wasn't dangerous. It could have been worse but yes, it went smoothly. It was a VERY different situation though.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for that clarification Steve. I never could see the first video. My impression was that the first horse was farther out the window than the girth line. You do have to make an on the spot decision, and make it fast. An experienced owners input should have a lot of weight in what that decision is. In a situation like this, once you commit to a direction, you'd have to stick with it.
 
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