Emergency services given training on dealing with loose horses

A horse getting loose on a major road or motorway is a terrifying possibility – and such incidents are becoming more common.

An increase in the number of horse-related road incidents has led to a new collaboration to educate those working in the emergency services how to cope with incidents of loose horses.

Any animal found loose on UK roads pose a danger to both the public and the animals themselves. Due to their size and unpredictable reactions to unfamiliar situations, loose horses on a road can leave well-meaning emergency officers unsure of how best to deal with the incident.

The Horse Trust has offered training to the Police since 2008, with the British Animal Rescue and Trauma Care Association (BARTA) developing ‘Fire & Rescue Service equine training’. But now the two agencies are combining to set up bespoke courses so that frontline services, known as emergency responders, are fully equipped with equine knowledge.

The partnership, which starts this Autumn, offers training for over 1,000 Highways England Traffic Officers, who deal with around 120 horse related incidents on motorways each year; one of the most recent being in early August, when one horse was shot dead after escaping onto the M25 in Essex.

This collaboration is a huge step forward in tackling the challenges that loose animals pose.

“It is essential that responders understand how horses behave, particularly when stressed, as horses don’t think, they just react,” said director and co-founder of BARTA, Jim Green.

The training will give support and information to officers, demonstrating the need to reduce anxiety and further stress to the animal. These new found skills will allow officers to safely and calmly deal with horses, minimising the impact on themselves, the public and the animals.