Training First Responders To Safely Rescue Horses SFEA Leads Seminar May 19 at Show Place Arena The Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance (SFEA) has been offering a basic course to train emergency response personnel to handle horses in a safe way since 1999. The goal is to teach them what to do if they are called to an emergency situation involving horses. In their 14th year of providing this valuable service to the community, they have trained 352 First Responders, many of whom knew nothing about horses and some of whom were afraid of horses before the training. These men and women may be the first ones at the scene of an incident /accident involving horses. For those participants who have never touched a horse, they learn to become comfortable around the large animals. They all learn the basics of how to load and unload a horse from a trailer. They learn how to do minor first aid; how to create equipment to capture and move a horse; how to handle a horse until it can be moved to a safe place; and how to extract a horse from an overturned trailer. The kinds of First Responders who train at these seminars include Highway Patrol Officers, Sheriff's Dept. officials, Animal Control Officers, and Humane Society personnel, among many others. SFEA volunteers bring their horses and trailers for use in the seminar. There is one volunteer and one horse per two participants. While these horses are usually calm and easy to handle, Peggy Hart, who leads the seminars, always creates a situation in which the horse is spooked, so that the First Responders can learn how to handle excited, panicky horses. Each participant receives a certificate of course completion and a resource book. Titled Equine Rescue Techniques for Emergency Response Professionals, the resource book is a comprehensive guide. Chapters cover Understanding the Horse, Safety and Handling, Emergency Restraint Devices, Restraint Methods, Parts of the Horse, and Medical Information including triage, vital signs, injuries and first aid. Other chapters cover Trailers, Extrication Tools and Procedures, Handling a Downed Horse, and a Reference section on equine resources, stabling, and horse transporters. From their evaluation sheets, the majority of participants found the seminar worthwhile, directly applicable to their job, and would recommend it to others in their departments. SFEA had additional assistance from Southwind Stables, who loaned horses, and Agricenter International, which loaned use of the Show Place Arena. First time volunteers at the seminar were Anne Mischke, Brynna Bartlett, Tamara Shipley, and Lou French. Anne and Brynna said, "It was nice to have a bunch of interested people to teach about horses. Folks were really nice!" More SFEA News --The SFEA donated a new dirt packer to the Show Place Arena. It will be used for packing down the dirt used to repair the flooring in over 600 stalls. This is a task that has to be done on a yearly basis and, before receiving this packer from SFEA, the job had to be done by hand. --If you are an eventer, foxhunter, or just like to ride over cross-country obstacles, the SFEA announced that the cross country jumps at Shelby Farms are in need of repair. SFEA is calling for volunteers to help with the repair work on June 5, starting at 10 am. For more information, call Rick Richardson, President at (901) 262-4202. --SFEA pairs with WTHJA. SFEA has an informatin booth at this year's West TN Hunter Jumper Association shows. At their April show, WTHJA introduced a new International Hunter Derby class, using cross-country type jumps, some of which were loaned by SFEA. George Morris, renowned Hunter Jumper trainer, was the initiator for this style of class, with which he felt Hunters should return to their foundations. For more information about Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance, visit http://www.sfeaonline.org/.