Equestrians and West Tisbury firefighters on the town’s rescue squad were among the people who gathered at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall Saturday for training sessions in large animal rescue.
Roger Lauze, a semiretired equine rescue and training manager from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) and volunteer Steph Cormier led the training. Among other training exercises, Lauze and Cormier used a rescue mannequin of a horse, with the name Lucky, and a giant sled called a rescue glide to help trainees learn how to safely move an injured big animal like a horse to a trailer or animal ambulance. Lauze said MSPCA developed the rescue glide in 1994. He described it as a flat piece of plastic with a curved bow. Using special techniques, rescuers are able to tip a downed horse up and slide the rescue glide under it.
“Then four to six people can pull an 1,100- to 1,200-pound horse into the trailer,” Lauze said.
Lauze said the rescue glide, which is made by different manufacturers, is not an expensive piece of equipment compared with many other types of rescue equipment. He said they go for $1,700 to $3,000 apiece. When compared with Lucky, the rescue glide appears cheap. Rescue Critters, the maker of 800-pound Lucky, put the price of the equine mannequin at $14,899, according to a company webpage. Horse enthusiast Jessica Burnham, the Martha’s Vineyard Horse Council, Flanders Real Estate, and the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society were among the sponsors for the training.
Burnham told The Times she is working toward acquiring “at least one” rescue glide for the Vineyard.
Burnham said the training went well, and the feedback, particularly from firefighters, was positive.
West Tisbury Fire Lt. Brynn Schaffner, who attended the training, said it was productive. “We’ve had multiple horse rescues over the years,” he said.
He also said he was present not as a member of the fire department but as the director of the Dukes County Technical Rescue Team.
