Full Circle Ranch

Our next Horsemanship Day Camp is just around the corner, and it is sure to be spooky fun! Join us for a Halloween themed day of games, crafts, horse riding, ...and more! The deadline to register is next week, so be sure to call or email us for more information! 951-340-0431 [email protected]

Wildfires and Horses Brian S. Burks, DVM, Dipl. ABVP Board Certified in Equine Practice Fire, like many things, is a great tool when controlled. Wildfires are ...often difficult to control due to many weather conditions, including heat, humidity, and wind; the latter can change direction without notice and send fire where it is not expected. As with any disaster, there should be a plan to get humans and animals out of harm’s way as quickly as possible. Fire may not force evacuation; it may be the thick, black smoke filled with toxins that arrives prior to the flames. Horses, and humans, can develop serious health problems even when smoke is several miles away. Have fire safety in mind when building your barn. There should be at least 30 yards of defensible space around it to allow fire crews to defend your barn. Steel and tile roofs are better able to resist flame spread from cinders compared to composite roofs which are more vulnerable. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 150 Standard on Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities includes safety requirements for both humans and animals in all types of animal housing facilities. Facilities should be designed and constructed to limit fire spread, maintain building structural integrity as long as possible, and keep fire escape routes accessible for a specific period of time. While it is impossible to make a livestock building fireproof, owners should constantly manage fire risk by incorporating safety practices and prevention strategies into their management focus. Have an evacuation plan for your barn. Know the exits and how to get halters and lead ropes on quickly. Horses should not be left in barns during wildfires, but rather hauled off site or, if there is no time, turned out into pastures or dry lots. Evacuation sites should be pre-planned and multiple in case you must move further, or no space is available. Horses should be identified by microchipping, marking with an agricultural marker, or have a plastic Ziploc bag attached to the halter with the horse’s name and your name and phone number. A combination is preferred. Storing information on flash drives is a marvelous tool to keep names, phone numbers, veterinarian, medications, vaccination records, bill of sale/proof of ownership, Coggin’s testing, microchip paperwork, photographs of the horse, etc. One can be easily taken with you and another placed in the bag attached to the horse. Be sure to photograph unique brands or markings and take pictures of you with your horse for identification if you become separated. Plan to take enough water, hay, and grain to last three to seven days for each horse when evacuation is required. Monitor news and emergency broadcasts closely to know what is happening and evacuate early, even if you think the fire may not affect your farm. Plan routes ahead of time and have an alternative route in mind. Have a place to go planned; a relative, friend, or another barn that may be able to house your horses until it is safe to return. Make sure that your horse(s) will load; during an emergency is not the time to have an already scared horse refuse loading on to the trailer. A first aid kit should include cotton bandage rolls, bandage tape, scissors, tweezers, duct tape, vet wrap, medical-type gloves, silvadene ointment and saline solution. These may be needed for initial triage. Silvadene is recommended with a light bandage placed for transport to a veterinary hospital for further treatment. Obviously, every animal will react differently, and their reaction may be opposite to what you might think. As prey animals, they seek the herd for safety; loose horses may run INTO the fire. Someone should halter them and lead them away, if possible. Because their instinct is to find the herd, have a way to contain them away from the fire; portable fencing can be purchased that is quite easy to put up as a small corral. If you can halter the horse, remember to NOT wrap the lead line around your hand- an upset horse may bolt and take your hand off. Horses panic due to fire and smoke and run amuck. They will be visibly upset. Approach calmly, without flailing arms or a loud voice. Do not slap horses to get them to move, this will invariably heighten fear. Do not stand directly in front or behind a horse, as these are danger zones. Horses rarely run to safety; they may run loose down the road, injuring themselves and others during their flight. If possible, contain them in an outdoor ring or arena. If this is not available, bright colored caution tape or even vehicles can be used as a makeshift containment area. Loose horses can be a danger on trails and roadways, damaging property and injuring people and themselves by being hit by a moving vehicle. This also precludes orderly evacuation by others. Escape attempts may result in trauma to limbs, eyes, or body and can even be fatal. Horses should be led one at a time to safety; this obviously takes a lot of manpower and is why early evacuation is necessary. If you must let the horse loose, avoid the use of nylon halters and leads; these can melt quickly and cause severe burns to both you and your horse. Remove any blankets, especially nylon ones. Blankets will not protect from lower fires and may catch on debris, trees, etc. trapping the horse. Even cotton blankets can burn. If trapped by wildfire, horses should be placed in the open, outside of buildings, which will burn. The removal of trees and brush ahead of time helps to give horses space away from the fire. A tractor can be used to remove grass, leaving a dirt space that is harder for fire to jump. Nylon halters should be replaced with cotton ones. Never use nylon fly masks, sheets, lead ropes, or other synthetic tack. For humans, cotton clothing with long sleeves, jeans, and leather gloves are preferred. Goggles are also advised. Wildfires are different from barn fires due to directional changes and the areas of burns. Never assume that a wildfire is going away from you; it may change direction at any time. Barn fires tend to burn the top of the horse as embers fall from overhead; wildfires tend to burn the extremities, axillary and groin regions, and ventral abdomen of the horse, though embers may fall from trees. Basic triage and treatment is similar. One major difference with wildfires is that there may not be water or medical treatment immediately available. The four primary objectives when treating thermal injuries are to save the patient’s life, relieve pain and suffering, close or cover the wound, and minimize scarring that may occur during healing. Superficial and partial thickness wounds are not difficult to manage, nor are they life-threatening. Pain medication should be administered. Intravenous fluids may be required due to fluid loss from damaged epidermal tissue. Uncontrollable pain and loss of appetite warrant euthanasia. Running cool water (NOT ice) can be helpful but is not usually available during initial triage at a wildfire site. The horse should be fully hosed with cool water to help mitigate further damage from heat, and to remove soot and embers that may remain. The skin retains heat, causing further damage. Embers may fall into their mane and smolder there, causing significant damage if not removed. Most horses will have superficial corneal ulcers. As the lower limbs are often burned, the coronet may separate from the hoof wall, causing abnormal growth that will resolve as the hoof grows out. It seems that most horses do not have rotation of the coffin bone, despite this separation. Due to the large surface area in horses, there are special considerations, as there are larger fluid, electrolyte, and calorie losses. There may also be extensive bacterial contamination due to the environment of the horse. Horses require long periods of restraint to prevent further trauma from scratching. Burns require personnel with technical skill to monitor and treat burns. These factors contribute to a guarded prognosis and create a greater expense. In wildfires, a large percentage of limb skin will be lost. There are several classifications of burns, based on the depth of tissue affected. Deeper burns affect more tissue. First degree burns are superficial burns with a thick and red epidermal layer. These tend to heal in less than one week. Second degree burns are subdivided: superficial burns affect only a portion of the dermis (below the epidermis) and cause severe subcutaneous edema and inflammation. Deep second-degree burns have minimal pain, and nearly penetrate the dermis. There is usually charring. Full thickness (third degree) burns penetrate the dermis and damage underlying structures. There is significant charring of the skin. Consequently, these burns do not have sensation and must heal from the wound edges or by skin grafting. Fourth degree burns may cause eschar of deep tissue down the muscle or bone. The extent of injury cannot be evaluated acutely in many cases. The skin will hold heat for some time, depending upon the duration of overheating. Therefore, more skin damage may be apparent after several days, and even up to 14 days post burn. Tissue damage will continue until the skin cools. Most burns occur on the dorsum (the back) of the horse due to falling embers in barn fires, but horses may also be exposed to forest fires, which can affect more of the body. Disfigurement from burns can prevent return to full function; however, most horses do return to former athletic ability. Life-threatening systemic changes are possible with burns, concomitant with the burned tissue. Cardiovascular changes are called burn shock. The amount of blood being pumped by the heart is reduced. There is significant fluid loss at the burn site, which can be extensive. Protein, electrolytes, and red blood cells may all be lost. This will increase the metabolic rate and caloric need. The heat from fires may also cause damage to the respiratory tract. There may be epithelial loss and severe swelling of the larynx or trachea, necessitating tracheostomy or euthanasia. Again, this may not occur for 2-3 days following the insult. Greater damage will result in faster tissue necrosis. Following thermal injury, blood vessels dilate, and capillaries begin to leak, leading to tissue swelling. This is mediated by adrenaline, where stress of injury/illness has caused the levels to increase in the circulation. The tissue loses oxygen due to less blood being pumped into the affected area, resulting in advancing cell injury and death. The lipid of skin is also destroyed, resulting in four-fold increase in water loss. This leads to heat loss from evaporation and an increased metabolic rate (there is a theme here). The loss of the natural protective mechanisms of skin allows colonization of bacteria, which may be normal skin flora or may be from the local environment. (The air is full of bacteria and endotoxin.) Managing thermal injury in horses is like humans and small animals, but is a much larger scale, making treatment more difficult. The depth of injury is more difficult to assess. A complete physical examination and stabilization of the patient should occur prior to evaluating the burned areas. Typical signs of inflammation will be present: tumor, dolor, rubor, and functio laesa; that is swelling, pain, redness, and loss of function. There may be blister formation, eschar formation, and infection. Affected horses have elevated heart and respiratory rates, may have abnormal mucous membrane color, coughing, fever, and ocular dysfunction. In some cases, joints and tendon sheaths may be involved. Pain is the least reliable indicator to indicate wound depth, but in general, redness, pain, and swelling are favorable indicators. Sufficient time must pass before severity can be accurately assessed. Burn infection is impossible to prevent in horses. Topical antibacterial medication is enough in some cases, but some horses will need to be treated with systemic antibiotics. Topical silvadene, is antibacterial and antifungal, yet easy to remove. It may slow healing in some animals. Manuka honey has also been used to treat bacterial infections of the skin. There are many grades, and there is some debate over which type is the most effective. Locally grown honey is less expensive and useful. Honey may be more effective in some horses, but studies have not given honey a clear advantage over silvadene. Some horses may be allergic to sulfur, and the skin will become red and weep fluid. Honey will be better for those horses. Aloe vera may also be used as it has some antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Chlorhexidine (NolvasanR) is epitheliotoxic, making it less ideal, and it should NEVER be used around the eyes. Gentle detergent soaps such as Dawn are best for washing these wounds. Prior to embarking upon treatment for an extensively burned horse, you should be aware of the lengthy healing process required for skin to regrow over the wound. Also, the horse will never look the same due to the lack of hair growth, exuberant granulation tissue, and chronic ulcerations, which are unavoidable in extensive burns. Wildfires are dangerous and unpredictable. Plan evacuation ahead, and never assume that you are out of danger until the fire is out or you are many miles away. Early evacuation may result in needless movement of you and your horses, but that is better than waiting until it is too late. Fox Run Equine Center www.foxrunequine.com (724) 727-3481 Experienced. Dedicated. Focused on the horse.