Keeping Our Horses Safe At Competitions

By now, most of you have probably heard about the barn fire at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds, also referred to as the BIg E, during the late evening hours of September 20. It is the location for Equine Affaire in November, and a place I am well familiar with.

The fair was over for the night, but a fire erupted in Barn C and total mayhem ensued.

161 horses were stabled in the barn and owners, trainers, riders, and even 4-H kids who had horses in a separate barn, rushed to save the horses.

Much like the fire at San Luis Rey Stables in 2018, when embers from a wildfire 2 miles away set off apocalyptic events of fire, chaos, and death, the “plan” at the Big E was to simply turn horses loose. But that is where the similarities end.

At the Big E, the fire was contained to just one building, horses did not run back into the barn, and the barn at the Big E had sprinklers.

Incredibly, all 161 horses survived, although several horses escaped the show grounds and were missing for several hours. Some were found in a TJ Maxx parking lot, while a horse by the name of Dante was found on Route 5, with a deep wound to his chest. Several other horses also suffered minor injuries, including road rash and scrapes.

The Big E has faced criticism for not notifying all of the horse owners about the fire: several showed up to compete the next day in their competition apparel, unaware that there had been a fire. They have downplayed the injuries and the event itself, referring to the event as “minor.” They are damn lucky that the fair was not still in full swing, which could have been disastrous, with the potential for loose, scared horses, to collide with fair attendees and cars.

While the fire is still under investigation and a source has not been revealed, let me get to the point of this blog:

I have been to many horse shows where I see numerous fire hazards, including people smoking in the barn, the inappropriate use of box fans, electrical cords running across aisleways, and flammable items stored in or near the barn.

Quite frankly, I am surprised this has not happened more often.

Some of the newer show facilities have fire extinguishers and sprinklers and are of concrete construction, yet I still see people smoking in the barns, despite No Smoking signs!

But older facilities are usually constructed of wood, are in various stages of needing repair, and are one tossed cigarette away from going up in flames.

I once observed a trainer, chain-smoking around his horse trailer. He mounted his horse and had the gall to toss his cigarette into the parched grass, feet away from the wood barn that housed dozens of horses. He trotted off before I could yell at him, but I picked up the butt, extinguished it, set the butt on the hood of his truck, where he would see it, and I reported him to the show office. I have no idea if they said anything to the person, but I hope they did.

My husband is an engineer, and the joke is that he cannot walk into a building without looking up and commenting about the lack of fire sprinklers or whether or not they are in violation of codes (we recently returned from the wedding of our daughter in Lake Como, and his first comment when we arrived at the villa was that there were no fire sprinklers. Other places we went to, he would comment on how they were not in compliance with the codes!) Now that I have taken courses in fire prevention in barns and give talks on fire prevention, I am the same way! I cannot walk into a barn without looking at the fans and searching for any potential fire hazard! When I give talks, I am always amazed at the number of people who do not give it any thought at all to the potential fire hazards in their barn! As someone who was educated about fire prevention in barns at a very early age by my grandfather, I always assumed it was something every horse person thinks about.

Show facilities need to get stricter about keeping competition horses safe. Not one competitor should have to worry that when they kiss their horse good night after a day of showing, that a barn fire could erupt in the middle of the night.

Just like stable owners and managers, show facilities should have a fire prevention plan in effect and they should hold drills. They need to be tough on smokers and box fans should not be allowed. Flammables should not be stored near barns, electrical systems should be inspected regularly and there should suppression methods in place.

Our horses trust us to not put them into harm’s way, and we in turn don’t think that a show ground could be endangering our horse. We need to start thinking differently and open our eyes and demand that show grounds are doing all they can to protect our horses.

In other news, we are all of course aware of the horrific destruction brought on by Hurricane Helene. We were on our way to Italy, confident that our farm in Florida would not be impacted due to our being on the east coast, and I had full confidence in my farm sitter to keep everything under control. I watched video after video in shock. My husband and I spent our anniversary 2 years ago in Asheville, and we spent a day in Lake Lure, Chimney Rocks and Black Mountain….the places where I waded in the stream, ate lunch, shopped, and photographed…all gone. The Flowering Bridge and its Rainbow Bridge, where pet owners left mementos of their beloved pets are forever gone. It saddens me to think that the hand-drawn portraits of their pets by children, the collars and trinkets left behind to honor their pets, are now gone forever.

I feel helpless and like many, want to be able to help. Therefore, I will donate 100% of my book royalties from book sales from now until October 15th, to equine disaster relief.

I have chosen The Foundation of the Horse as the recipient. The Foundation of the Horse works directly with equine veterinarians on the ground to make sure supplies, hay, feed, and veterinary care are provided to animals in need. They are the charitable arm of The American Association of Equine Practitioners.

If you would like to purchase the book and contribute to this organization, you may purchase the book from my book link to IngramSparks at Common Sense Horse Keeping.

We may be in the fall season, but disasters are all around us, and there is always the potential for a barn fire. Please educate yourself and make disaster and fire planning part of your horsemanship skills!

And speaking of the Big E and Equine Affaire….do you have your tickets for this glorious equestrian shopping event? I will be speaking on Sunday, November 10 at 2:00 at the Better Living Center stage. I will be talking about Fire Prevention. I hope to see you there!

Don’t forget to hug your horse!