How Do You Rescue A Horse?

Firefighters and emergency personnel use 'Lucky' to practice rescuing horses and riders. FEMA News Photo

How do you rescue a horse? That's a good question. There are 7 million horses in the United States and every year some of them will need to be rescued from overturned trailers, collapsed barns or after riding accidents in the woods or fields. Rescue teams around the country train themselves to rescue people in all kinds of emergencies and disasters. They train themselves to rescue animals, too.

The Felton Volunteer Fire Department, in California, for example, is developing a training manual for how to rescue large animals. They also do training using - listen to this - a horse manikin!

The horse manikin is named Lucky. He is life-sized - 15 hands tall - so that firefighters and rescue workers get a taste of really what it would be like to work with such a large animal. It can be used in all weather, even mud and water. When emergency responders are trained to help large animals, they are much more likely to save the animal's life and keep themselves from being injured in the process.