How Do You Rescue A Horse?
![Photo of a horse rescue.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507154855im_/http://www.fema.gov/kids/images/photos/t_horserescue1.jpg) |
![Photo of a horse rescue.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507154855im_/http://www.fema.gov/kids/images/photos/t_horserescue2.jpg) |
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.
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