Horses are flight animals, and as such anything ou of the ordinary has the potential to cause an adverse reaction, making the horse distressed. This can be dangerous to the horse itself, to other horses and to the people around them. We are often able to desensitise our horse to a situation that worries them, but fireworks are in general not common, and it is hard to recreate the bangs and cracks of fireworks, bright colours lighting up the sky and burning smells associated with bonfire night! Whether planned events that you have been notified about, or a neighbour having an impromptu party, there won’t be many horses that get through the 5th of November without seeing fireworks! This year the 5th falls on a Thursday, so be especially aware the weekend preceding and after fireworks night While we can’t stop fireworks, we can help to keep our horse calm around this date: BEFORE FIRE WORKS NIGHT:
- Ask friends and neighbours to inform you of anything they have heard of or have planned themselves
- Monitor local papers, radio stations and shops to see what events are coming up!
- Check stables and fields to make sure they are secure and there is nothing the horse can injure themselves on should they get excited
- Ensure you have adequate 3rd party liability insurance, in case your horse does escape and cause damage or an accident
- If there are lots of local events or your horse is particularly nervous consider feeding a daily calmer for a couple of weeks prior to the first display, and continue over that period.
- Have a ‘fire’ plan in place- make sure if there is an emergency there are enough people to remove horses to a safe place
- To help drown out noise, get your horses used to a radio being on in the yard
ON THE DAY
- It is normally advised to keep to your horse in their normal routine- if your horse is normally stabled at night it is probably best to leave them in, but if they are used to being out this may suit them better
- Give horses ad-lib hay or haylage to help to keep them occupied
- Leave on the radio to help drown out sounds (acclimatise your horses to this first, if not the radio itself may worry them!)
- Leaving lights on makes flashes less obvious
- Check on the horses after the fireworks display has ended to ensure they are not overly distressed
- If you horse is in, pop them in rug that will help them keep warm and will also wick sweat away. If they live out, it may be worth putting a wicking rug under their usual turnout, so they don’t get wet and cold if they do decide to run around
- If there are just one or two local displays, it may be worth using a calming syringe of MagnaFeed to help keep your horse steady on these occasions
- Shut exterior gates where possible- stressed horses may push through stable doors or jump out of fields
THE DAY AFTER
- Thoroughly check over your horses in daylight to make sure there were no injuries or problems missed
- Before you turn out, look over your horse's field for any stray bits of firework or debris that could lead to accidents
Olivia Colton MSc Nutritional and Technical Coordinator To find out more about the calming options available to you please call 0800 525585 to speak to one of our nutritional advisors, or see our website.