You know sometimes you think of things that you need to remember. You know them, you’ve updated them, but time just gets away from you, and you forget. Actually I forget a lot of things lately. But this one is important and we need to remember and revisit it again.

Loved the movie Karate Kid. For some reason that line comes to me often. It came to me this morning when I was deciding whether to leave the halters on or to take them off in their stalls.

Normally they are off, especially now with the horses being removed from pastures and being slaughtered. I know I’ve talked about that in the last couple of weeks, but this morning there was a different spin on it.

I came in from the barn the other night and Bob was watching the Black Stallion series of movies on TV. Actually they were running all horse racing movies until 6:30 a.m. on TCM. It was the second in the series where the barn was set on fire. Now Alec had heard The Black carrying on before the fire and he went to put the halter on. He had no problem, but we’ve all stood there and and fumbled to turn it right to get it on (especially when you drop it on the floor or ground). That goes back to my post on always hanging and folding a blanket the same way all the time so you know, when you pick it up in the dark, how it’s hanging. The same goes for a halter. Always hang it the same way so you don’t have to figure out which end is up (or in this case front or back).

Just a quick word on halter safety. Nylon doesn’t break, but necks do. Saw a picture on Facebook about a week ago with a back shoe caught on a halter from when the horse went to scratch his face. Neck was broken. Shoe and halter were still connected.

So lets combine two thoughts here. Halters and Fire. Have you given much thought to what would happen if your horses were in the barn and it was on fire. Do you and your family have a clear plan on how things should go? (I’ve touched on this before) Does everyone know their jobs? You all will panic. Yes we know that we should have an extinguisher at the front, back, and side doors. How about halters? How about lead lines? Do you keep halters on the horses when they are in a stall? I don’t. I’ve seen horses with halters on get them caught on the strangest of things. Yes, hopefully they have break-a-way halters and they break when they are supposed to. So you grab the lead line that is hanging on their doors and lead them out. Now remember that your horse is going to feed off your anxiety, not to mention that they are usually afraid of fire.

I’ve seen, in movies, people placing rags over a horses eyes so they can’t see the fire. Well they can still smell and hear the fire. Don’t know if it really works in this case. You have to build that trust with your horse before you get into a situation. I used to do that with all my babies. I’d blind fold them and ask them to let me lead them through and over obstacles. It paid off many times in the trust issue. With fire, I think it will depend on the horse. My mare was terrified of fire. Back then I never even thought of working her through that. She hated gun fire and trains also. We just avoided those things. That was back in the 60’s before I got to focus on making my horses the best they could be. I just loved them and enjoyed them.

Do Not just turn them loose when you get outside the door, they may run back in. Lock them in a pasture or tie them somewhere away from the fire. If you have someone you can hand them off to that’s even better. If you don’t keep a halter on, and your halter and lead are hung properly you can just grab the crown piece and slip it on your horse. Now some horses don’t like fire much and may not be all that quiet to get this job done. Leave longer lead lines by each outside door so you can just slip it around the horses neck (or make a quick halter out of one) and get out of Dodge. If you have a long barn you may not have time to get them all out, depending on where the fire is and where the exit doors are. Grab the horses closer to the fire first. Now every fire department agency is going to tell you not to go in the barn. These are our beloved animals and we are not going to even think about not trying to save them, we will just do it, but do it as safely as possible. Your instinct is going tell you to grab the horse closest to the door, and you will save that one, but a lot of things will factor in when it comes to getting the others.

You must think about what else is in the barn that is flammable and possibly explosive. Hay and bedding burn real fast. Old wood buildings burn real fast. What above you is burning that is going to fall on both you and the horse. So much to think about, so little time. Let’s try thinking about this stuff before we have to. And here is a thought, changing what you can.

I know you may have halters and leads on each stall, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time. Extra halters and lead lines left at the entrance can be a blessing. Sometimes it’s a negative thing too if someone comes in trying to steal a horse. You may have to weigh your options.

You could leave a spare halter and/or lead line by the back door of your house to grab on your way out. After all – loose horses can happen at anytime, and if you have to run to the barn and get a halter and lead line first, they may be half way to the next county before you get to the barn.

Come to think of it, I used to always carry a lead line in my car. I was forever finding loose horses running down the roads in Staten Island. I was never one to wear a belt but I always had my trusty lead line in my car. Now I carry several dog leashes. They take up less space in the door or glove compartment.

Silly things pop up in my brain. I just pass them on. Food for thought, but could come in handy some day. Wax on, wax off. Halter on, halter off.

I think we need to check and recheck things often. I know I do.