Happy Tails Rescue
Wired Up! Oh no!
Wild Horse Connection received a call about a horse caught in fencing wire and immediately called LRTC’s Technical Large Animal Rescue team. The stallion was trailing a significant length of wire behind him and it was wrapped around his leg so he couldn’t step out of it.
The team set up a chute with panels that led to the transport trailer. If needed, they could have moved the horse into the trailer and shut the inner compartment door to safely work under the door to remove it, but that ended up being unnecessary. They used a line with constructing netting to gently move the horse into the chute and secure it.
They were then able to clip the wire to shorten it, then work from both sides to unwind the wire from around his leg. The chute was opened and he calmly rejoined his stallion buddy and they wandered off.
Wire is a known issue and the team carries a variety of long handled hooks, poles, and tools for just this kind of rescue!
L to R: Stallion in the chute with wire wrapped and dragging, just a few of the many tools carried by the rescue team, the wire once removed.
Volunteer Training
On June 4th & 5th, LRTC and Rocky Canyon Rescue held their spring Technical Large Animal Rescue course. Volunteer members learned a selection of much used knots, tools, and techniques and practiced a variety of scenarios with the mannequin horses to hone their skills. As always, their number one priority is safety. It is awesome to have this well trained team on the Virginia Range!
If you’d like to join the rescue team, please reach out to tdkwilson@gmail.com to get more information about required pre-requisites and upcoming training opportunities.
