Last month, Equine Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, kicked off its series of emergency response rescue courses with a reception attended by over 50 key stakeholders, including a lecture by Rebecca Gimenez, PhD. In addition to the reception, Equine Guelph also held an emergency preparedness workshop for horse owners and a Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) operations course for first responders on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19-21, respectively.

With a lifetime spent with horses and 20 years participating in technical large animal rescue, Gimenez shared some amazing stories at all three events. Based in Georgia, Gimenez is the president of TLAER, Inc. and an international instructor in technical rescue techniques, tactics, and procedures.

The theme for the emergency preparedness workshop, held at the University of Guelph, was improving safety during emergency situations for both people and large animals. Gimenez stressed that large animal rescue is a constant learning process, and that “it’s not about a horse in a rescue scenario, it’s about you.”

There needs to be an increased understanding of predatory versus prey tendencies when dealing with horses, she told the group of 32 horse owners, veterinarians, and vet techs