June 4th, 2023 Event: Buckhorn Range Chapter Members Trailer Loading Clinic

Brought to you by your Emergency Equine Preparedness Committee (EEP)
Mentors and Location: Becky Cushman & Mike Piero, at Paradigm Sport Horse Training
1710 South Jacob Miller Road
Port Townsend, WA

One of the key steps in preparing for evacuation emergencies is to ensure your horse loads in a trailer.  The optimal situation is for your horse (or horses) to be loaded by you in the trailer with which they are familiar.  But in an emergency, that is not always the case.

Knowing your horses will load in an unfamiliar trailer, by an unfamiliar person in an emergency is not guaranteed.  The EEP committee is arranging a day to provide an opportunity for members to audit the demo of handlers loading in unfamiliar trailers, potentially by other members, as an opportunity to identify holes in the horse’s (and handlers own) training.

NOTE: To audit this EEP Trailer Safety Loading Event, you must be a Buckhorn Range Chapter Member.

Agenda for the Event:

• Intro To Trailer Safety and basics of loading in an emergency
• Loading/unloading in unfamiliar situations
• Break and debrief post exercise

There will be 3 different trailers set up in the closed stable yard (slant vs straight load, stock vs closed in, etc..). Depending on the level of experience of the horse and Chapter member, our mentors will walk through Trailer Safety differences to consider, then allow practice to each person’s comfort zone. Becky and Mike between them have years of professional trailering / hauling experience, and we welcome their mentorship.

The goal is for each participant to walk away with information on how they can better understand the gaps they need to work on for themselves and their horse.  Safety will be a priority. Trailer safety checks and regularly loading and unloading your horse from your trailer is sensible good practice, and invaluable in uncertain events!

Limiting this event to Buckhorn Range Chapter members not for liability purposes but to offer a unique learning opportunity to Buckhorn Range members only. 

All attendees must be active BCHW members from the Buckhorn Range Chapter.