The Atlantic hurricane season is active from June through November. Advance disaster planning for your family, pets and horses is crucial to minimize panic and consequences, should a storm strike your area. This checklist will help you prepare.
Download a printable Hurricane Checklist for Florida Horse Farms
Vaccines: Ensure that your horse’s core vaccines are up-to-date. These include Eastern/Western Encephalitis, West Nile, Tetanus Toxoid, and Rabies.
State Transport Requirements: In general, a health certificate and negative Coggins test are required to cross the state line. However, the state may waive the requirements when emergency travel is necessary.
Evacuation: Moving animals out of floodplains and coastal areas is recommended. Evacuation must occur 48 hours before hurricane-force winds occur in the area. Transporting your horse when wind gusts exceed 40 mph is dangerous.
Identification: Each horse should be identified with at least one, if not all, of the following:
- A leather halter with name/farm information in a zip lock bag secured to the halter with duct tape.
- A luggage tag with horse/farm name and phone number braided into tail. Make sure this is waterproof.
- Photos of each horse as proof of ownership highlighting obvious identifying marks.
Shelter: If the pasture has good fencing and limited trees, it is probably best to leave your horse outside. Well-constructed pole barns or concrete block barns may provide safety from flying debris, but your horse may become trapped in the event of building collapse. Other safety concerns to consider:
- Keep your horse out of pastures with power lines.
- Trees with shallow roots will fall easily under hurricane-force winds and can injure your horse or destroy fencing.
- Do not keep your horse in barbed wire or electric fencing during a storm.
Water: Store 12-20 gallons per horse per day.
- Fill garbage cans with plastic liners and fill all water troughs.
- Have a generator to run the well, if you have a large number of horses.
- Keep chlorine bleach on hand to add to contaminated water, if necessary. To purify water, add 2 drops of chlorine bleach per quart of water and let stand for 30 minutes.
Feed Storage: Store a minimum of 72 hours of feed and hay (7 days is best):
- Cover hay with waterproof tarps and place it on pallets.
- Keep grain in watertight containers.
Secure all moveable objects: Remove all items from hallways, relocate jumps and lawn furniture out of harm’s way, and place large, heavy machinery in an open field where trees cannot fall on them.
Turn off electrical power to barn.
Emergency Tools: Keep on hand fence repair materials, chainsaw, hammer, nails, wire cutters, tool box, pry bar, fire extinguisher and duct tape. Be sure to also stock up on fuel.
Emergency First Aid Kit:
- Bandages (leg wraps and quilts)
- Antiseptics
- Scissors/Knife
- Topical antibiotic ointments
- Tranquilizers
- Pain Relievers (phenylbutazone or Banamine®)
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- Extra halters/lead ropes
- Clean towels
- Fly spray
