Staff Report
In rural places like the Santa Ynez Valley, where horses and cattle are prevalent, consider coming to an event which will show owners of horses and other large animals what to do emergencies. The third annual Equine Emergency Preparedness Expo will take place from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Santa Ynez Valley Equestrian Center Party Barn.
This year’s expo will feature training from Victoria Beelik of the Ventura County Department of Animal Services.
The Santa Barbara Equine Evacuation and Assistance Team, Horse Emergency Evacuation Team of San Luis Obispo County, and others will provide information, resources and training throughout the event to teach those attending how to prepare themselves, their horses, their homes and their facilities for any emergency. Attendees should not bring their own horses.
New this year is the Fireline Safety Awareness, which will teach basic incident management organization, general wildland safety and basics of fire behavior. This will be taught by Gary Johnson of ResQFast, who will touch on topics of issues and concerns in the wildland, risk management and entrapment avoidance. Johnson will give attendees the tools to recognize hazards and assess different situations from earthquakes, floods, landslides, fire and more.
The Equestrian Center is at 195 N. Refugio Road in Santa Ynez, south of Highway 246. For more information, visit the Equine Emergency Preparedness Expo group on Facebook or call Dawn Perrine at 805-245-6727.
