Trapped horse today- What equipment do you have for an emergency?

Sussexbythesea

Sussexbythesea

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Today I arrived at the DIY yard where I keep my horse and fed all the all horses as our yard practice is first on yard feeds.

As I opened the door to feed the just backed and about to be turned away again 3 year old massive warmblood future dressage star. I found he had caught his shoe in the door chain and his foreleg suspended about 2ft high out in front of him. :o He was standing there very calm and wanting his breakfast.

It was well and truly wedged in and there was no way of releasing the chain from the wall. The only thing I could do was pray he didn't panic and call the cattle man who basically does all our yard maintenance. I told him we would need some bolt cutters which luckily he had - I hand fed the gelding while he cut the chain free but then he had a 3ft chain caught in his shoe. We still could get it out so had to use the bolt cutters to cut the length of chain so that only a little was then poking out. By this time his owners arrived. There was still a length of chain stuck under the shoe and we were lucky to get hold of a farrier who popped over and took the shoe off.

It made me think though that 'What if we hadn't got any bolt cutters?" or I could get access to them the outcome might have been a lot different. So what equipment do you have on your yard to deal with such emergencies?
 
I have a small toolkit, wire cutters, shoe pullers, hammer, screw driver, adjustable wrench etc but no bolt cutters. Got this after having to help a horse caught in a wire fence
 
Wheel/car jacks are very useful for cranking open metal five bar gates, when ponies decided to play!
 
I had a similar thing once. Went to field to get pony in, he was standing by the fence with his front leg up. He had obviously pawed at the fence and got the wire caught between his shoe and his hoof. He wasn't panicking, but I don't know how long he had been like that. Frantic rush to the horsey people next door (the field was away from our house) and got some wire cutters. Cut the wire and pulled the offending piece out. No harm done except to the fence. I think, if you have wire fencing, wire cutters are an essential piece of kit - it was not the first time I have had to use them. Apart from that, probably a phone so you can call for help. (Thinking here of a friend whose horse ended stuck in a ditch out hacking - called fire brigade and vet, horse extracted without problem or injury).
 
I have found my horse with both front feet caught in the bottom of th sheep netting that used to fence our field. I stayed with him and phoned my mum to get the wire cutters, thing is this was the middle of he day and not one of our routine visits, he would have been there another five hours if it was a normal day. We have basic stuff like wire cutters, hammer, knife etc at the stables, anything more complex and it's a call to my dad, or the local very helpful farmer :)

I always have my phone in my back pocket, even if it is a flying visit, you just never know with horses.
 
Just as I originally posted my sister just rang from the USA so got a bit distracted so sorry for not responding :)

I was thinking I might put together something together in case of emergencies. Wire-cutters would be top of my list as I've often thought these could prove useful now I'm thinking bolt-cutters too. I've got a crow bar somewhere already.

Where can you buy farrier tools? I was wondering how you could find out the best way to remove a shoe? - this one today didn't come off easily even with the chain wedged between the foot and the shoe. Are there courses for that or would you just ask your farrier to show you?

Thanks
 
I have boltcutters, farrier tools for shoes (despite not having mine shod anymore), wirecutters & a small toolkit with usual stuff in, a very sharp knife & a collection of emergency fence repair stuff. But mainly an obsession with making sure there is never anything to get caught on.
If you haven't removed shoes before, get your farrier to show you & supervise you doing it. Most will be happy to rid themselves of having emergency calls in the future.
 
Farrier tools for shoe removal, and I have been taught by a farrier how to do so properly without damaging the foot.
Hammers, pliers and other such tools are available should they be needed too.
 
sussexbythesea said:
Where can you buy farrier tools? I was wondering how you could find out the best way to remove a shoe? - this one today didn't come off easily even with the chain wedged between the foot and the shoe. Are there courses for that or would you just ask your farrier to show you?

Thanks
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One of these to cutting the head of the nail with a rubber hammer... http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/hoof-buffer.html

and these.. http://www.robinsonsequestrian.com/shoepuller-spreader.html

Get your farrier to show you what to do
 
what don't i have lol,hubby is a gardener landscaper fencing bloke and has a lock up at the field so i have access to bolt cutters, crow bars, hammers of all sizes etc etc etc
 
Ibblebibble said:
what don't i have lol,hubby is a gardener landscaper fencing bloke and has a lock up at the field so i have access to bolt cutters, crow bars, hammers of all sizes etc etc etc
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See the main piece of equipment I need is a nice strong man and you just can't nip down to B&Q an pick one of those up :D
 
I have the normal wire cutters, sharp scissors and a stanley knife.

Unfortunalty when my lad rolled in his stable and managed to get his off hind caught between the dividing stable bars (the reason I would never again put him any form of stable with bars!) the only way to free him was to call the Fire Brigade....it took six of them, a pneumatic jack and the total dismantaling of the stable around him....sometimes unfortunatly they will get into a situation where only the professionals can help them....The Fire Brigade boys were truly wonderful, my lad just lay with his head in my lap and let them get on with it, bless him he was only four at the time.
 
Chavhorse said:
I have the normal wire cutters, sharp scissors and a stanley knife.

Unfortunalty when my lad rolled in his stable and managed to get his off hind caught between the dividing stable bars (the reason I would never again put him any form of stable with bars!) the only way to free him was to call the Fire Brigade....it took six of them, a pneumatic jack and the total dismantaling of the stable around him....sometimes unfortunatly they will get into a situation where only the professionals can help them....The Fire Brigade boys were truly wonderful, my lad just lay with his head in my lap and let them get on with it, bless him he was only four at the time.
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That must have been terrifying :o. Thank God for the Fire Service! Was he sedated?
 
sussexbythesea said:
That must have been terrifying :o. Thank God for the Fire Service! Was he sedated?
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Poor little guy had we think been caught up for a few hours (YO had checked them at 11am and found him hanging up at 6am) he was so flaming exhausted sedation was not necessary.

He well and truly damaged himself as you can imagine! Took nearly a year of paddock rest to come sound and he is still scarred badly from where he got the equivalent of bed sores and lost all the skin on his near side where he was lying for so long amazingly he was happy to go back into a stable (suitably boarded up all the way round!) a day later.

He had gone away to be backed and was doing brillantly at the time of the accident, I was about to start riding him it was 2 years later I finally got on board.
 
Chavhorse said:
Poor little guy had we think been caught up for a few hours (YO had checked them at 11am and found him hanging up at 6am) he was so flaming exhausted sedation was not necessary.

He well and truly damaged himself as you can imagine! Took nearly a year of paddock rest to come sound and he is still scarred badly from where he got the equivalent of bed sores and lost all the skin on his near side where he was lying for so long amazingly he was happy to go back into a stable (suitably boarded up all the way round!) a day later.

He had gone away to be backed and was doing brillantly at the time of the accident, I was about to start riding him it was 2 years later I finally got on board.
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Sounds like quite an ordeal, glad it had a good ending :)

Ps I guess you mean 11pm and 6am?
 
I have wire cutters at the yard as my husband's horse regularly gets his shoes stuck in wire - he likes to climb over, even if there is an open gate next to the fence! Thankfully he will just stand there without panicing and wait to be rescued, sometimes for hours. Hasn't done it yet this year, so hoping at 8 his brain has finally worked out that its a stupid thing to do!!

Hubby is a mechanic, so has everything we could ever need really.

If you do keep bolt and wire cutters at the yard, make sure then are hidden away - don't make it easy for thieves to get into the yard/stowages...
 
sussexbythesea said:
Just as I originally posted my sister just rang from the USA so got a bit distracted so sorry for not responding :)

I was thinking I might put together something together in case of emergencies. Wire-cutters would be top of my list as I've often thought these could prove useful now I'm thinking bolt-cutters too. I've got a crow bar somewhere already.

Where can you buy farrier tools? I was wondering how you could find out the best way to remove a shoe? - this one today didn't come off easily even with the chain wedged between the foot and the shoe. Are there courses for that or would you just ask your farrier to show you?

Thanks
Click to expand...
http://www.davewilsonharness.com/farrier-items-19-c.asp
or better quality http://www.atlantic-equine.co.uk/buffers-clinch-cutters-and-clench-groovers
I think I would remove [snip off] the clenches if possible, so that the nails would draw out cleanly, it depends on what has happened to the shoes, most will come off fairly easily with a co-operative horse and the right tool.
It takes practice to knock up the clenches, and have never had to practice, farriers get a bit snippy about these things.
 
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Glad to hear that the horse was OK.:)

From not having them around in the past when I needed them, my ATV is a travelling workshop, and our workshop in the horses barn has everything from bolt croppers to chainsaws, there is also always dope and flunixin to hand too. We have had to use a chainsaw to dismantle a wall around a horse before after the silly thing kicked through a 1" oak plank and got stuck. We also have the basic tools available to remove shoes should we have to.

The ATV always has wire cutters, bolt croppers, stanley knives, string, a rope halter, a tow rope and a hammer in it, dozens of useless nails and for some reason, a SOCK, just the one! :confused:

I once had to sit on a horses head 100m from my barn and 20m from my ATV because she was stuck in wire and I dare not leave her even to run to the quad for rope to tie her with. For once I had my phone with me, a lesson learned, I do take my phone with me nowadays. A neighbour came and helped in the end.
 
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