My dad and I have been debating what we should do with our horses this Sunday. We have a category 2 hurricane heading this way and we hardly ever get weather as severe as this. I've never had to face this situation before and it seems like everyone is saying to do something different. They are calling for 12 inches of rain and 80+ mph wind. Our whole coast has been evacuated and events are being cancelled. We are more inland, but they are still calling for very bad weather. It will be a long night/day for us for sure!
Anyways, we have four horses. We do have a barn and stalls, but the barn is bordered by woods and lots of trees. We've had a lot of rain this past week and the ground is VERY soft. Not only that, but with 12 inches of rain, the barn will definitely be flooding. My dad and I were originally going to put the horses inside, but now we are very concerned about trees falling, which seems to be a very realistic event. We have the same fear about the outside, but my dad is thinking we could keep them in the upper field where there are very few trees that could fall. However, there is no shelter in that field, and access to shelter would mean having to go near lots of big old trees that have been weakened by all this rain. We are also concerned about trees falling on the fences. If they get out, there is no telling where they will end up. We are also not sure if we should keep halters on them during the storm. They could certainly get caught up on stuff with them on, but if we needed to move them or catch them in an emergency, the halters would make this much easier. We usually do not keep halters on our horses when they are out at pasture.
Our thought right now is confining two to a large round pen and two to the fenced area outside the roun pen. Both areas are free of trees and on high ground. My fear are them freaking out over the wind and getting injured, or injuring each other. However, we are not left with a whole lot of options and we've never had to face this situation before. I'm in New Jersey and the worst we get is some bad thunderstorms!
What are your thoughts on the situation? If you are in the hurricane's path, what will you be doing? Our hourses stay outside most of the time except for the old one who has his own shelter. However, he can't use that during this storm because the wind would lift it right up and out of the ground. The others have a run in shelter that they use, but it is bordered by the cow farmer's property and they are tons of trees.
Anyways, we have four horses. We do have a barn and stalls, but the barn is bordered by woods and lots of trees. We've had a lot of rain this past week and the ground is VERY soft. Not only that, but with 12 inches of rain, the barn will definitely be flooding. My dad and I were originally going to put the horses inside, but now we are very concerned about trees falling, which seems to be a very realistic event. We have the same fear about the outside, but my dad is thinking we could keep them in the upper field where there are very few trees that could fall. However, there is no shelter in that field, and access to shelter would mean having to go near lots of big old trees that have been weakened by all this rain. We are also concerned about trees falling on the fences. If they get out, there is no telling where they will end up. We are also not sure if we should keep halters on them during the storm. They could certainly get caught up on stuff with them on, but if we needed to move them or catch them in an emergency, the halters would make this much easier. We usually do not keep halters on our horses when they are out at pasture.
Our thought right now is confining two to a large round pen and two to the fenced area outside the roun pen. Both areas are free of trees and on high ground. My fear are them freaking out over the wind and getting injured, or injuring each other. However, we are not left with a whole lot of options and we've never had to face this situation before. I'm in New Jersey and the worst we get is some bad thunderstorms!
What are your thoughts on the situation? If you are in the hurricane's path, what will you be doing? Our hourses stay outside most of the time except for the old one who has his own shelter. However, he can't use that during this storm because the wind would lift it right up and out of the ground. The others have a run in shelter that they use, but it is bordered by the cow farmer's property and they are tons of trees.
