Maplewood Stables holds a free first responders horse handling and safety clinic every six months in hopes that it will help horse owners, and first responders when evacuation is required. They believe teaching people how important it is to have an evacuation plan and what to do will help save lives.
"The need to educate these guys to learn how horses think, how they react, how they see, how to put a harness on them safetly, and how to help the volunteers to put a horse in the trailer so no body gets killed," said Julie Winkel the owner of Maplewood Stables.Â
In addition to learning how to properly catch, halter and lead a horse, attendees may also experience loading a horse into a trailer and will better understand how horses typically react to fires.Â
Winkel says she lost her home in a fire in 2012. Her horses were safely evacuated and since then she’s educated her staff on safety protocols and holds fire drills.
"As a victim of a wildfire myself, I'm aware of the dangers these events have on the property owners and first responders," she said. "Knowing how to safely approach and handle a horse can go a long way toward keeping everyone safer in an emergency situation, including the people trying to evacuate the animals and the horses themselves," says Winkel.
Maplewood is not the only stable that has an evacuation plan, Red Rock Stables can even come pick up your horse, in case of an emergency, "We have two big horse trailers and trucks that we can put 10 horses in a piece so we can go around the neighbors and pick up horses if need be," says Lynn Lloyd of Red Rock Stables.Â
For more information on how to take part of Maplewood Stables training session, call 775-849-1849.
They hold these events every six months, one November and one in May.Â
