Surviving Disaster – How Can You Help Horses Recover After A Disaster?
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246 – March/April, 2025
By Megan Arszman
Mother Nature can be crazy and cruel. We’ve seen that with recent hurricanes hitting the Southeast and wildfires burning through the central portion of the country in 2024. With each incoming natural disaster, social media feeds are flooded with pleas to prepare and evacuate. We then see tear-jerking photos and videos of the damage.
But what if you were caught in a disaster? How would you manage the aftermath for your family, farm and horses?
Preparing for the Disaster
The very first thing you hear from disaster response experts regarding how to care for horses after a disaster is to plan. Plan to evacuate. Plan to recover. Plan to rebuild.
“The best response to most declared disasters is to have an evacuation plan in place,” says Leslie Easterwood, MA, DVM, Clinical Associate Professor and Texas A&M University’s Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) member.
An Emergency Action Plan, or EAP, is an organizational document that will not only help with an orderly evacuation or preparation for a disaster, but it should also alleviate some stress from the unknown when it comes time to implement the EAP.
“Anyone that is involved with your horses–trainer, farrier, client–should have a copy of the EAP and feel confident to perform what is needed,” says Elizabeth Gorrell, DVM, chair of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Horse Owner Education Committee. “You should have it available at all barn entrances, tack rooms and trailers. Have the plans laminated or in something waterproof.”
An EAP should contain:
Click here to read the complete article
246 – March/April, 2025
