Earlier this spring, a group of third graders in Richmond, Ky., got a hands-on lesson in rescuing large animals.

On March 30, Tomas Gimenez, DrMedVet, and Rebecca Gimenez, PhD, gave a Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue presentation to Mrs. Green’s third grade class at Model School in Richmond, Ky.

In town to conduct the fifth annual Large Animal Emergency Rescue Training for Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Justice and Safety, the Gimenezes took some time to visit the class.

The rescue teachers brought a variety of hands-on demonstration equipment to allow the students to understand the physical challenges of assisting a 1,200-pound animal that might be stuck in deep, sucking mud, or in an overturned horse trailer on the interstate. The equipment was simple–pieces of 4″ sewn webbing that could be used to manipulate the victim, canes and boathooks as extensions of their arms to minimize injuries, helmets to protect their heads, and knowledge of horse behavior