DAN: "In the event of a natural disaster,
such as a fire, hurricane, or flood where
you don't have much notice before having to evacuate,
what do you like having packed in your trailer?
We live in Southern California, where
we could be forced to leave due to a fire with little
to no warning.
We are trying to decide what passed ownership papers
and health records we should keep
in the trailer at all times, in case of an emergency."
Ooh.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
So that was a very specific question, but a good one.
But I would like to open it up a bit more to disaster
preparedness in general, because September
is National Preparedness Month.
DAN: Oh, I did not know that.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
And as we're filming this today, as we're recording it,
Hurricane Florence is about to hit.
They're close.
So this is a very timely topic.
Not going to be out in time for those people,
but I think that what we're going to say today
is going to help others, because they mentioned fires.
There's tornadoes.
DAN: Absolutely.
LYDIA GRAY: There's floods.
There's earthquakes.
There's a lot of stuff.
One of the things that you have to know,
the first thing, I guess, is some disasters
can happen anywhere, like a barn fire.
All right.
But then others can happen--
they only happen in certain parts of the country.
So like where I live, we don't get hurricanes.
DAN: Lucky.
LYDIA GRAY: We don't get wildfires.
So you have to know what happens in your area,
because that determines what your response will be.
Will you evacuate?
Will you reach high ground?
Will you go to-- do you leave your horses in the barn
or turn them out?
DAN: Yes, that's a common question people ask.
LYDIA GRAY: It's a very common question.
And you have to ask yourself that all the time.
And it depends what your threat is in your area.
The one thing I wanted to say, when
I did this, when I was more involved in the horse rescue
community, I learned the definitions.
So an emergency is an urgent situation.
A disaster is an emergency that overwhelms the individual,
and even the local, resources.
DAN: So your fire department, police.
LYDIA GRAY: Right.
So that's why we call hurricanes disasters,
because the whole coast is affected.
And there are people coming in to help
from all over the country.
So that's a disaster.
But an emergency is a very local, like,
one person or one building--
DAN: One barn is affected or something like that.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, exactly.
So the other thing we're going to do at the end of this,
or at some point, is provide you with links to places to go.
I can't cover everything that you
need to know for a disaster in this little segment.
So we're going to share some links with you.
And those are the places I went to get this information,
because I wanted to be super timely and accurate
and all that.
And it's going to be links for people, for horse people,
as well as for you, yourself, like Ready.gov.
Have you been?
DAN: I have not.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
That's where people go to find out, bring batteries and water.
DAN: So clearly, I'm not prepared even
for my own situation.
LYDIA GRAY: You're not.
You're not.
Yeah.
Well, the surveys say that anywhere from 40% to 60%
of Americans aren't prepared for disasters.
DAN: Mm.
Well, no one wants to think about that.
LYDIA GRAY: And that's one of the reasons
that people procrastinate.
It can't happen to me and all that.
DAN: So would you recommend going onto these links
and maybe printing out some information
just to have on hand?
LYDIA GRAY: Yes, yes.
And Red Cross now has an app.
Well, they have lots of apps.
And you pick the disaster, the threat that's in your area.
So you can choose a hurricane app or a flood
app or a wildfire app.
And it tells you exactly what to do for each situation.
DAN: That's super helpful.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, that's Red Cross.
So we'll put those links up for you.
But just some general things--
so it's clear that being responsible for a large animal,
like a horse, is very different from having a dog or a cat.
DAN: Yes.
LYDIA GRAY: And you have to plan ahead.
And so one of the things that I really
wanted to make sure I said today was, for a horse,
you have to have a trailer.
You can't just toss them in your car.
And so you have to make sure, if you have a trailer,
that it's functional.
You've kept it maintained and serviced
and, also, that your truck, your tow vehicle, is gassed up,
and it's also maintained and serviced.
You can't go out to a trailer that's been rotting or rusting
and sitting there.
And you don't even know if it's hitchable,
if you have the right connections.
You've got to practice that stuff.
It's got to be in working order.
And this is the really important part.
Your horse has to load.
DAN: Yes.
LYDIA GRAY: You can't be facing an emergency,
like a mandatory evacuation, and you haven't loaded your horse.
He's been on the property for 10 years
and never seen the inside of a trailer.
DAN: Not the time to teach trailer training.
LYDIA GRAY: No, no.
So it's just like fire drills in schools, right?
You practice these things so that, if it happens,
you're ready.
If you don't have a trailer, then this
is where you establish a partner or a buddy system
with another barn or even a boarder.
And you arrange for, if there is 10 horses on your farm,
that there are enough vehicles for all 10 horses to go.
You might only get one trip.
DAN: So already have planned out which horses
can trailer with which other horse
and where they're going to go.
LYDIA GRAY: Yep.
And practice it.
Because it might sound easy, but until you do it
and you find out that, oh, we don't have enough halters.
Or we don't have enough lead ropes.
You don't know until you try it.
So there's a lot to think about.
And these websites that we're going
to give you will have lists and things to mention.
One thing you print out in addition to those lists
are the evacuation maps.
Know where you're going to go, because the communication
might be down.
Your phone might not be working.
Electricity, power might be out.
DAN: So with a horse, though, there's
only so many places you can take a horse.
They're not a dog.
They're not a cat.
You have to have another large structure to put them in.
LYDIA GRAY: Right.
And so some of those places are racetracks, fairgrounds,
show facilities, equestrian centers, stockyards,
or auction places.
Get to know your emergency authorities in your area.
So it could be the county sheriff.
It could be animal control, humane societies.
There's different people who are in charge of what happens
in an emergency or a disaster.
Know them.
And they'll tell you where you're
supposed to go with your horse.
And that's why you should have-- now,
I should probably answer the question.
You should have your horse's medical records and paperwork
with you, because some places won't let you
on without a current Coggins and proof
of current, up-to-date vaccinations.
DAN: Oh, wow.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
So those are two things you must have
in some sort of watertight, waterproof envelope.
And they even say have this information in your trailer,
like the person asked, but also have it somewhere off-site.
DAN: Well, I know a lot of vets are emailing the Coggins now,
too.
So you can have that as a--
LYDIA GRAY: Well, yes, because then
you can access it from your phone, if your phone worked.
But it's best to have a printed out copy.
And also, you might have lots of photos
on your phone of your horse.
Print out some so that you have a paper copy of the photo.
That will help you for proof of ownership
if you have to go find your horse.
Or they're at a facility.
And there's lots of horses.
And you say, the brown one.
And well, er, there's lots of brown ones.
So the Coggins and the vaccination history,
if there is something in your horse's history,
is he on medications?
He has a special diet.
Those things are handy to have.
But the proof of ownership, any registration papers or breed
registry, that's important to have.
And then it comes to identifying your horse.
DAN: Yeah.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
DAN: 27 brown horses.
LYDIA GRAY: Oh, my gosh.
So there are ways to permanently identify,
that would be like microchipping,
would be phenomenal.
DAN: Yeah, absolutely.
LYDIA GRAY: Tattooing, branding.
There's fetlock bands.
There's neck collars.
You can put something on the horse's halter.
But, see, halters come off.
So now we're on the temporary.
You can braid something into their mane or tail.
I've seen people take a Sharpie and write numbers
on their hooves.
DAN: That's what I was going to say.
But I didn't know if that was--
LYDIA GRAY: No, no.
It's a thing.
And I've also seen the livestock crayon or the paint stick.
You put it on the body of the horse.
I've even seen clipping the hair.
And here's your tip of the day.
Don't put your phone number.
Put a phone number for someone out of the area,
because your phone might not be working.
So if someone finds a horse, they
call the number that's on the horse.
It doesn't get you, because your phone is down.
The satellite is down.
DAN: Got it.
So have a backup person.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, have a backup person.
Lots more tips like this, if you go to the websites we give you.
DAN: I do have a friend who also mentioned,
once, it's a good idea to have the local firefighters
and police come into your barn--
LYDIA GRAY: Oh, yes.
DAN: --and get to meet your horses,
get to see what your layout of your barn is.
Have your horses be familiar with another person walking in
in uniform and things like that.
LYDIA GRAY: They're very scary with their uniforms.
They make noises.
They don't look like people anymore.
And so if one of those guys can load your horse up,
you're ready.
DAN: You're even better.
LYDIA GRAY: Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
That's good.
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