4th of July fireworks and horses??

Question

There's going to be a lot of fireworks at my town tonight off the beach from 9 to 11. The stable where I board my horses is really close to where the fireworks will be. Will the fireworks scare my horses? (They're Thoroughbreds and slightly high strung). Is there anything I can do to calm them? I don't want to have to drug them, but I will if I have to. Is it safe for me to visit them about halfway through to check on them? Please help!!!

Answer 1

Our horses ALWAYS get worked up this time of the year when all hte fireworks go off... dont be to concerned, they can get worked up and it wont hurt them. Yours horses will get used to them after the first few, unless they are nut cases in which they will just get worked up and sweaty, no big deal no need to drug them they will be fine,  and if it makes u feel better to visit them do so

=]

Answer 2

It isn't normally the visual part of fireworks that scare horses, it's the noise.  I suggest putting them in their stalls and turning on a radio in the barn.  Also good to check on them periodically.  If they are left out in a pasture together, if one panic's they will all panic.  You could use some Calm and Cool which would just relax them a bit.

Answer 3

If they can see each other and are in a place where they feel safe, they'll probably be alright.  Unless you can do something about it, visiting them is more about calming you down than it is them.  If drugs are an option you accept, then the time for that is before they are upset...once they are excited, the physiological stress response  fights the effects of the drug so it doesn't work all that well.

Answer 4

Check on them before and when the fireworks start. Normally if they can see each other they'll be fine.

Make sure they are in the stalls or in a barn. Or some covered place that is safe.

If they are fine when the fireworks start, you can leave after a few minutes and enjoy yourself. If they get spooked, go around and calm them until they are fine. =]

Answer 5

we used to have that problem...

i would stay there with them the whole time or just the beginning if they dont seem to be scared...

id also keep them in their stalls... even though it's a confined space...

fireworks are housed in cardboard containers that fall from the sky... we used to have to go out in the pasture and literally pick up hundreds of them every fourth of july... when they fall they could land on ur horse or near them and spook them or even burn them if theyre hot...

just be careful and dont worry too much... if ur horses arent scared when they start then just go and have fun...

Answer 6

I always bring mine in on fireworks night, tuck them up safe and sound in the stables with plenty of hay. I have gone out to check on them and found them actually watching the fireworks in the sky !

Answer 7

My horses are always terrified of loud sudden bangs that sound like shotguns.  

I've been desensitizing them with a cap gun and my 22 but they still spook.

For the 4th of July (tonite) they will run around at the first sound and when they see the 'purdy lights' pouring out of the sky to set them ablaze all of a mares fury will break loose!

They will bolt around wide eyed and snorty...running so hard they will actually slip and fall on their sides.

Then the people that are setting these off will get out their dang semi autos and autos (yup..they got autos over there too) and start shooting them off in the air.

Now my horses will be lathered up and ready to pass out.

This is what I do...

I close the pasture that goes to the area that is closest to where the idiots live.  This pasture is also on the road.  I want the horses off of that area in case someone runs through the fence.

I open the back pasture up so if they HAVE to run they can hide behind my house and a shed to block them from the burning sky and loud monsters.

IF they get to running too much then I will close that off and then put them in a smaller paddock so they cannot get a running start and try to jump the fence.

The whole family stands out in the pasture with them...each horse has a human to stand with them and soothe them.

Each time a firework goes off I yell out to all of them

"Face your Fear...it's ok"  as that is a cue I have used for 2 years now.

A stall inside where they cannot see will keep them from injury and turn a radio up with some fans...drown out the noise.

I don't have that option.