Articles

MERS Responds to 2nd Call of the year on Friday, January 13th, 2012--Elsberry, Mo.

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:50:04 GMT

MERS received a call on Friday, January 13th, 2012 for a horse down in a pasture, just outside the barn. We received the call @ 8:50pm. MERS traveled over 83 miles to get to the scene, in Elsberry, Mo. Upon our arrival, the last mile was on an ice covered road, and the outside temperature was 9 degrees.We had 13 highly dedicated members that were available to respond.

When MERS had received the initial call, we immediately requested that the owner call a Veterinarian to respond as well, factoring in what the owner had told us and combining that with the outside temperature. When we arrived, the Veterinarian had just arrived, as well, and had already completed some initial evaluations. Although the vitals came back normal, and the horse was full of energy, the Veterinarian was very concerned about the horse's left front leg, and in order to do a complete evaluation on that, we needed to get the horse up. The horse had been blanketed from the time that the owner had made the initial call to MERS.

We immediately placed our MERS Head Protector on the recumbent horse, rolled the horse over onto our long webbings, and attempted to manually lift the horse up in the frozen pasture. We had to physically hold the horse up, as the horse would not put any weight on the one particular leg. We then put the horse back down and blanketed the horse. We then resorted to putting together the MERS A-Frame specifically designed for lifting horses, and holding them in place. After we assembled this, we were required to place the downed horse onto our Rescue Glide, securely package the horse, and transported the horse approximately 100' to the A-Frame. With our lifting equipment hooked up to the horse, we successfully lifted the horse up and into a horizontal postion. With the horse suspended in the horizontal postion, the Veterinarian made an immediate evaluation that the horse's front left leg was broken. We slowly lowered the horse back down, and the horse had to be humanely euthanized by the Veterinarian. MERS stayed on the scene and offered whatever assistance and condolences that we could for this very sad outcome. This was certainly not the outcome that we were hoping for. After we packed all of our equipment up, we then traveled approximately 14 miles to Troy, Mo.(on the way home) stopped at a local Gas Station where we spent a good deal of time debriefing and evaluating what we had just experienced.

The majority of MERS members are horse owners, and the majority of our call outs have great outcomes. When we work this hard in an attempt to save an animals life, and have this result, it has an effect on all of us. MERS members are all professionals--we discuss the situation, and prepare for the next call out.

We arrived back home at 2:30am, 9 degrees outside, and drove 166 miles round trip.

MERS responds on the 32nd call for 2011 to Ballwin, Mo.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:08:15 GMT

MERS received a call at 10:50am through a veterinarian for assistance with a horse down in a stall. MERS was able to have 12 members respond. The horse had been down for approximately 2 hours when we received the call. The horse was a Hanoverian, a little over 17 hands in height. It was not known why the horse was down, but for the veterinarian to do proper evaluations, MERS needed to get the horse upright. Upon our arrival we placed the MERS Head Protector on the horse. We then placed our specialized equipment under the downed horse, and were able to get the horse sternal. The horse was thrashing around but we stayed with it. This is part of the reason why it is so important that we have an OPERATIONS OFFICER and a SAFETY OFFICER on each and every call out. Using our equipment and with equal number of members on each side, we were able to quickly and safely lift the horse up into an upright and standing position. From the time that we arrived on the scene, we had the horse up and standing in less than 10 minutes.The veterinarian performed some evaluations and we then walked the horse out of the barn into a turn out area . We walked the horse for approximately 15 minutes. At that time, the veterinarian released us from our duty.

MERS Responds to their 1st Call out for 2012 to Robertsville, Mo.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:01:48 GMT

MERS received their 1st Call out for 2012 on Thursday, January 05 @ 11:08am. We responded to an address for a horse that was down in an area right next to a barn. The veterinarian had already been called and was on the way, but was a couple of hours away. The Veterinarian gave the owner specific instructions.

Upon our arrival we placed the MERS Head Protector on the horse and took vitals. The basic vitals came back favorable. Using our Bill Hook, we were able to get our two long webbings under the horse. With equal amount of people on each side, we were able to lift the horse up into a standing position on our second attempt. We walked the horse out into a pasture for approximately 15 minutes. The veterinarian was still enroute as we left the scene.

MERS responds on 31st call out in 2011 for horse trapped between 2 stalls

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 04:21:46 GMT

MERS received a call @ 6:40pm through a veterinarian to respond to the Dittmer, Mo. area for a horse that became trapped inbetween two stalls. It was theorized that when the horse tried to get up, he kept hitting his head & body on the overhead board, and then gave up. When MERS arrived, we immediately put the MERS Head Protector on the horse. Using our special Bill Hook, we then placed one long webbing around the horse's girth area, and then one just in front of the hind legs. We then used two pieces of webbing to tuck the horses legs up. In order to get this horse out in a safe manner for the horse and the rescuers, we first performed the sideways drag to remove the hind legs from the post area. We then were able to remove the horse from under the boards. In order to do this, we had to keep 2 MERS members on the horses head the entire time to prevent the horse from getting up during this process, and injuring himself. Once we had the horse safely away from the boards, we were able to quickly get the horse up and standing.

We then performed vitals on the horse, and when they did not come back 100% positive, we contacted the veterinarian for his estimated time of arrival. We continued walking the horse awaiting for the veterinarians arrival. As we departed, the horse appeared to be recovering very well.

MERS RESPONDS ON 3rd CALL THIS WEEK on THURSDAY, AUGUST 04, 2011

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:35:23 GMT

MERS received a call on Thursday, August 4th @ 7:04am for a horse trapped in a stall in Wildwood, Mo. Upon our arrival, our initial observation was the horse was laying on it's side, had it's back left leg sticking through the lower wall of the stall, and it's back right leg was hyper-extended upward, and was stuck inbetween the bars of the stall. The horses front legs were jammed against the stall door, and had the bottom of the stall door jammed, making the door impossible to open. A veterinarian was immediately dispatched. The first 3 MERS members that arrived were able to work the door loose, and gain access to the horse. Our concern was that this mission had to be 100% correct to eliminate serious damage to either leg. Simply taking the leg out of the stall bars without a plan, would easily cause damage to the opposite leg that was through the wall. Some MERS members arrived prior to the MERS Rescue Truck/Trailer, and were able to comfort the horse, and lay wet towels on the horses head and neck while waiting for the MERS truck and the veterinarian. Prior to MERS getting inside the stall with the horse, the horse was flailing it's head up and down violently in an attempt to free itself. The MERS members that gained access to the horse, were able to get to the horse and comfort the horse with wet towels, and were able to constrict the horse from raising it's head. We were also able to place a saddle pad under the horses's head. Once the horse was sedated, we immediately placed the MERS Head Protector on the horse, and then worked our long webbings underneath the horse. We then were able to easily remove one bar to remove the right rear leg, and then immediately pulled the horse away from the wall using our webbing. Prior to this procedure, the veterinarian put some lube on the leg that was through the wall. After several minutes of letting the horse rest, we then moved the horse into a sternal position. After several more minutes, using our webbing, we manually lifted the horse up into an upright standing position. Because the horse was still under sedation, we had to physically hold the horse up for a few minutes. After some additional evaluations by the veterinarian, we then slowly walked the horse over to the wash station, where we were able to get cold water onto the legs. After approximately 20 more minutes, the horse was walked out, and appeared to be well on the way to a full recovery.

MERS RESPONDS TO DRAFT/MULE CAST IN STALL ON AUGUST 02, 2011

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:29:56 GMT

MERS RESPONDS ON THEIR 27th CALL OUT FOR 2011 ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 02, 2011.

MERS received a call @ 8:20pm for a Draft/Mule that was cast in a stall in the Gerald, Mo. area. The Large 10 year old Mule was under care for an abscess on one of her hind legs, and had been laying down to relieve pressure. She had layed down several times over the last couple of weeks, which is typical. This time, she got too close to the stall wall, became cast, and then totally exhausted herself thrashing to get away from the wall. MERS had to put in place 1/2 of our specialized piece of lifting equipment inside the stall, and we were then able to lift the downed Mule up after several minutes of planning and set up. After we had the Mule up and further evaluated, we then walked the Mule out of the barn. Per our request, the owner was on the phone talking to a veterinarian about additonal care for the animal.

MERS had 15 professional, dedicated members that have dropped what they were doing for 2 days in a row, and responded late at night in this extreme heat.

MERS arrived back home at 12:45am, after traveling 82 miles round trip.

MERS RESPONDS TO RIVER RESCUE ON AUGUST 1st, 2011--ST. CLAIR, MO.

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:27:43 GMT

MERS & THE ST. CLAIR FIRE DEPARTMENT joined forces and responded to a River Rescue on Monday, August 01, 2011. A call came in @ 8:35pm for a bull that had tumbled into the Meramec River near Red Horse Conservation area in rural St. Clair, Mo. 13 MERS members, along with 2 ST. CLAIR FIREFIGHTERS, and a veterinarian responded approximately one mile downstream in the MERS & ST. CLAIR FIRE DEPARTMENT Rescue Boats. 8 additional Firefighters stayed back at the boat ramp to provide additional support. This mission was completed at 1:30am. No additional information is available.

Photo Gallery

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:44:16 GMT

Camel Stuck in Mud in Desoto, Mo. July 05,2011

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:46:49 GMT

MERS received a call @ 12:06am from the owner of a camel that had become stuck in mud. The camel was estimated to wiegh between 1,000 to 1,200 Lbs.The owner found the camel, just outside of her barn, exhausted, with her back legs trapped, stuck in approximately 2 feet of mud. The camel was laying on her side, near death with her eyes rolled back. The owner was able to get the camel sternal, then called MERS. Upon our arrival, we quickly put our portable lights in place and evaulated the situation. We successfully used our Nikopolous Needle under the camel in order to get two pieces of webbing in place for lifting. The Nikopolous Needle is a specialized tool, similiar to a huge crochet hook, that allows us to 'needle' through the mud, and back out in order to get the webbing around the animals body. Once our webbing was in place, we then brought the owners tractor in, hooked our spreader bar up to the camel, then tractor, and safely lifted the camel into a horizontal postion. We then slowly drove the tractor into the barn away from the muddy area. We continued to evaluate the camel , who appeared to be doing OK, but was very upset. After a few minutes, we released the camel from our equipment, but not before we closed the back barn door. The owner had the veterinarian enroute as we departed. MERS traveled 88 miles round trip for this call, and we arrived back home @ 5:00am.

MERS Demonstration at the JCTR Horse Show--June 11th, 2011

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:40:45 GMT

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:40:51 GMT

MERS Responded with only 5 of 20 Members Available 05-05-11 (we stayed until the cows came home)

Thu, 05 May 2011 23:55:17 GMT

Because of the time of day, work schedules, vacation schedules, etc. MERS responded on a call on May 5th, 2011 @ 1:45pm with only 5 out of our 20 members available. It's amazing what you can accomplish with skilled professionals that know how to use the equipment available!

Cow Stuck in mud in Hawk Point, Mo. 04-30-11

Sun, 01 May 2011 02:44:03 GMT

On April 30TH, 2011-MERS responded to the Hawk Point, Mo. area for a cow that was stuck in mud. We had to cut the fence down to gain access to the cow, and we then quickly put the cow onto our Rescue Glide. The mud was approximately 12-15" deep. Once the incumbent cow was out of the area, we then transported the cow on our Rescue Glide approximately 500' to the owners barn. While we were transporting the cow, other MERS members had gone to the barn to set up the 9:1 system. Once in the barn, we then hooked the cow to our spreader bar, and lifted the cow up using the 9:1 Mechanical advantage system.

MERS traveled 122 miles round trip on this rescue.

MERS RESPONDS TO HORSE TRAPPED IN FLOOD WATERS ON APRIL 26, 2011

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:32:02 GMT

MERS received a call on April 26th, 2011, @ 8:40am from the Humane Society of Missouri to respond on a call for a horse trapped in flood waters. This was located 216 miles south of Wildwood, in Caruthersville, Mo. The horse ended up trapped on an island on the Mississippi River. This was in Pemiscot County. The island was located close to the river, with the state of Tennessee across the river, and Arkansas 12 miles to the south. This horse was located on the owners property. He was unaware that when the area had received over 10" of rain the prior day, that the Mississippi River would be rising as quickly as it was. Overnight the river had blocked his only way off his property, had risen one foot overnight, and was expected to rise 8 feet over the next 24 hours. The owners house by the next day was going to be 8 feet under water, and he had already missed his opportunity to even get his vehicles off the property.

The trapped horse was a 4 year old Quarterhorse. MERS arrived on the scene @ 1:30pm. We parked on top of a river levee, and we were able to access the water at a small boat ramp. In addition to 12 MERS members that responded, we were also assisted by one member of HSMO, as well as the owner, and 3 members of a local volunteer Fire Department. In addition to the MERS Rescue Boat, the local Fire Department assisted with their boat. To access the horse, we put the boats in at the boat ramp, and had to travel 1-1/2 miles to the horse. The water was approximately 8-10 feet deep, and was actually a corn field. Out in the field , there was a sustained wind of approximately 8-14 miles per hour, which created 2-3 foot white caps on the water, and the water temperature was approximately 57 degrees. The outside temperature was approximately 80 degrees, sunny to partly cloudy, and thunderstorms could be seen on the horizon. When we reached the horse, he was grazing on some very green grass, in an area approximately one acre in size. Prior to getting into the boats, we held a briefing and came up with a very precise game plan. When we arrived on the scene, and further evaluated, we decided to go back to the Rescue Trailer with one boat, and get the Anderson Sling. We placed the bottom half of the Anderson Sling securely on the horse. We then put our two long webbings under the horse in the front and back. With that, we then had members walk the horse into the water approximately 300 feet to where the water got approximately 4 feet deep. We then postioned a boat on each side of the horse, and all members got into the two boats. We placed two lead lines onto the halter, creating a cross tie, one rope going to each boat. We then placed 8-10 prussik loops onto the Anderson Sling to help us hold the horse up. We slowly moved the boats out into the open water. When the horse became bouyant in the deep water, the horse made no effort to swim, due to the fact that we were supporting the horse with the Anderson Sling. We were holding the horse up in the sling using the prussik loops attached to the sling, and our two long webbings. At any point in time, we could have released the horse from us and the boats, if the horse was to put us into a dangerous situation. The horse was never tied to any part of the boat. We began the 1-1/2 mile journey back to the levee. When we got into the open waters, the wind kicked up substancially and created huge white caps that created in challenge in holding the horses head up and out of the water. At one point, the boats were in neutral, and the wind and current were moving us at approximately 8 mph.As we continued to hold the horse up, and keep his head above water, we slowly went back into the slough leading back to the levee. The horse at no point attempted to swim. The horse just 'went along for the ride'. You could really sense that this horse knew that we were there to help. As we got to the shore, and the water quickly got shallow, the horse quickly reared up, we let go, and the horse slowly walked up to some people awaiting on the bank. We immediately removed all of our equipment from the horse, already had our generator running with the heated blanket ready. We quickly dried the horse off with towels and scapers, and checked the horses vitals. At the same time, we had a veterinarian on the telephone. The horse dried off immediately, and the horse's vitals all came back normal, and the horse looked alert. We then proceeded to walk the horse for approximately 20-25 minutes. At that time, a neighbor came over, who lived on higher ground, and walked the horse down to her property. We put all of our equipment away, debriefed, and left the scene @ 3:40pm, 2 hours and 10 minutes after we had arrived. We then drove up the road, where we refueled, had dinner, and arrived back home at approximately 9:45pm.

MERS Training on 04-16-11 Practice, Practice Practice

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:34:49 GMT

MERS held it's regular training on Saturday, April 16th, 2011. All members are required to know and be proficient with 8 specific Rescue Knots. In addition, all members must know how to set up the 9:1 mechanical advantage system, which is set up by running rescue rope through a series of carabiners & pulleys a specific way, to give the rescuers the mechanical advantage needed to lift a horse, or even trailer. It is very important that all members are familiar with this, because we have already been required to use the 9:1 four times already this year. We were excited to welcome 2 new members to MERS today.

MERS also had the opportunity to re-inventory our equipment in the rescue trailer. In addition to various types of pre-made Rescue Ropes, we also have 4 Bags of Rescue Rope that are used on a regular basis. We have a bag that contains 300', 200', 150', and 50' of hi-tech CMC Rescue rope. Although we inspect all of our equipment after each use, today we had the opportunity to take all of the Rescue Ropes out of their bags, and perform even closer inspections on all of them.

After responding on our 18th call out of the year just yesterday, it is always good to re-group and be able to train and have discussions in a non-rescue situation.

MERS Responds to Crawford County, Mo. Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:00:24 GMT

THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF ASSESSING THE SITUATION, ARTICULATING AND ANALYZING ALL OF THE FACTS, AND THEN DECIDING THE SIMPLEST, SAFEST WAY TO APPROACH A SITUATION FOR A POSTIVE AND SAFE OUTCOME FOR THE VICTIM AND RESCUERS. "FOOLS RUSH IN...."

On Tuesday, April 5th, 2011, MERS received a call at approximately 9:00am from The Humane Society of Missouri as well as The Crawford County Sheriff's Department for a horse that was running loose on and next to a major highway. As a general rule & policy, responding to calls for loose horses or livestock is against MERS policy unless the animals are putting the public in general danger. It was explained to us that The Crawford County Sheriff's Department had already received up to 2 different 911 calls for this horse being on heavily traveled Missouri State Highway 19, 2 miles south of I-44 in Cuba, Mo. From our experience, horses, in general, that are loose, will eventually go back to their home, but this scenerio was much different than any other that MERS had come across.

MERS immediately put the team on standby to possibly respond, and then 2 of the Board Members, who are also active responding members, began asking questions to the Sheriff's Department, and to the owner. This horse had never broken loose from the property previously. The horse was currently 1/2 mile from it's property. This horse broke loose 4 days prior, on Saturday, April 2nd, and had been 'chased' since Saturday. As our team was remaining on standby and had not been deployed, we found out, through the owner, that this horse was a 14 year old untamed Mustang Stallion, that had never had even a halter on it previously, and did not have a barn buddy. Essentially, this untamed, unbroke Mustang Stallion had never been out in the open, and had never had contact with another horse before. In addition, we were also told that this horse did not like men. We were told by The Crawford County Sheriff's Department that as early as 1:30am, on the morning of April 5th, that they had received a 911 call from a motorist indicating that this horse was actually on Highway 19. MERS concern, as well as everyone else's concern, was the danger of a person colliding with this horse, and the person being seriously injured, or worse. We were told by the owner that some 'good intended' private citizens, as well as some 'cowboys', along with some members of a local Mounted Rescue group had been there over the weekend 'chasing' the horse through the countryside. At one point, some Police cars attempted to 'corral' the horse with lights and sirens. All that this accomplished, was to get the horse more upset and agitated. Fortunately, no individual got hurt. Horses are prey animals. Fear is their main emotion , their first reaction is flight! The horse had now been in a neighbor's hay field grazing for at least 6 hours, and seemed content, as long as he was left alone. Having said that, the farmer who owned the hay field, is now justifiably getting upset that his hay field is beginning to get destroyed, and he has made it known through the Sheriff's Department that he is going to take his own action if the horse is not off of his property soon.

While our members are still on standby, we begin to compute all of this information to formulate the simplest and safest plan to capture this horse, without any individual, or the horse getting injured. MERS and the St. Louis Zoo are the ONLY two agencies within the area that own a Tranquilizer Gun. After we made several calls to various veterinarians, we came to the conclusion that although the drug that veterinarians use is very effective when it is introduced into the vein of a horse, but you must be close to the horse to administer the drug. Our Tranqualizer Gun has an accurate range of approximately 30', and that would be hitting the horse in the hind quarters, in the muscle area, not the vein. So, with any horse, when the tranqualizer gun would penetrate, the horse's immediate reaction would be to flee. The medication through the muscle would kick in in approximately 20 minutes. If you would be lucky enough to find the horse, by that time, the drug would be wearing off. In addition, from talking to experts, it was told to us that wild Mustang Stallions are a whole different breed, in that their resistance to a drug of this nature is much different. So, even though the owner was pleading to us to 'Tranq' the horse, this was not going to be a positive option. After much discussion, it was decided that the ONLY option, that would give us the highest percentage of success, was to send in the MERS Horse Whisperers. Almost all of our members own horses, and many of our members are very well educated on horses reactions to certain situations, etc. Our Board chose to keep all of our members at home, on standby if needed, and the fewer 'people' that the horse came in contact with would be better. A horse is a Prey animal, it's main emotion is fear, it's first reaction is flight. That is exactly why there was zero success capturing this horse over the weekend. Two of our members stand out within our group with their years of experience dealing with these situations. MERS had EARLENE COLE, and QUINTANA GARCIA respond to the scene. Earlene & Qunitana's years of experience of growing up with horses, training horses, and judging horses was a big plus. Earlene Cole also has 20+ years of being the past Director of Longmeadow Rescue Ranch. It was decided that the smartest approach to this was for them to wear clothing that would not bright in color. Earlene & Quintana took their 2 Mares to respond.

Upon their arrival, at 2:30pm, they saddled up the two Mares, and quietly rode over in the general direction of the Mustang. The Mustang's first reaction was to back away. With that, Earlene & Quintana rode a short distance away, and got off thier horses. After leaving the Mustang alone for awhile, they then slowly walked the two mares toward the Mustang. The Mustang did not seem interested in the two horses until one of the mares urinated. That got the Mustang's attention, the Mustang walked over and smelled around. With that, they began walking the two mares in the general direction back toward the owners property (1/2 mile away). The Mustang would walk behind them at a safe distance for awhile, then get spooked, and run away a short distance. Earlene & Quintana would regroup, and start the procedure all over again. When they got to one spot at the end of a field where the tree line was getting closer and 'closing in' on the Mustang, he felt threatened and ran a short distance away(keep in mind, grain was never interesting to this horse). After regrouping several times, and getting the horse to follow along at a distance, they then came to a barbed wire fence, that had to be cut done(and put back up later). They then were getting closer to home, but had to negotiate over a set of railroad tracks. The Mustang wanted no part of that. After attempting to cross in several locations, they finally found a spot that was 'acceptable' to the Mustang. They then attempted to negotiate through a couple of different narrow paths through brush and trees, and the Mustang wasn't going to budge. With Earlene & Quintana continuing to stay focused, and continuing to quetly comfort the horse, they finally led the horse the last several hundred yards back to the owners property with the Mustang pretty much pushing on the mares butt back home!

MERS received the call @ 9:00am. Earlene & Quintana arrived on the scene @ 2:30pm, and were able to safely get the horse back home @ 7:00pm. This was such a professional and well done job by the two MERS Horse Whisperers!

This is a perfect example of assessing the entire situation before you act. This well thought out plan is what brought this to a resolution as quickly as it did. With MERS spending the amount of time upfront assessing and ruling out the options, and then Earlene & Quintana having their own plan in place when they arrived on the scene at 2:30pm, this made for a very successful outcome for everyone!

CONGRATULATIONS TO EARLENE & QUINTANA!

(Photos are of the horse back home)

MERS responds on 15th call for 2011 to Bonne Terre, Mo.

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:25:50 GMT

MERS received their 15th call for 2011 to respond to Bonne Terre, Mo (10 miles north of Farmington). @ 4:10pm. The owner stated that the horse was in the pasture rough housing with his barn buddies, went down in some mud, spent some time trying to get up, and was now exhausted. The veterinarian had been on the scene, had completed evaluations, given the horse some medications, and told the owner that the horse did not appear to have any injuries. After negotiating through rush hour traffic, and driving 68 miles, MERS arrived on the scene @ 6:35pm. Upon arrival, we had to off load the equipment needed into our MERS ATV Gator, and drive approximately 1/4 mile to the scene. The horse was blanketed, and had been trying to get up. We immiedately placed our MERS Head Protector on the incumbent horse, and then proceeded to lay our two long webbings out on the dorsal side of the horse. We then placed two webbings around the horse's legs, and rolled the horse over onto the two long webbings. With that in place, we attempted 3 times to lift the horse up manually. When that failed, we implemented plan B. We placed the horse onto our Rescue Glide and prepared and packaged the horse to transport to an area where we could mechanically lift the horse. While we were packaging the horse for transportation, other MERS members were approximately 300' away constructing the 9:1 mechanical system up onto a tree. The 9:1 is a system that we build using 300' of rope that runs through a series of carabiners & pulleys to give us a 9:1 mechanical advantage to lift the horse. With the horse securely packaged on the Rescue Glide, we quickly moved the horse to the 9:1 area, using our MERS ATV Gator. To get the horse to this area, and in this area, the gound was saturated with approximately 4-6" of thick mud & water. Once the horse was under the tree, we were able to quickly lift the horse up into a horizontal position. Once the horse was horizontal, we physically straightend the horse up while suspended, slowly lowered the horse down, and the horse began to stand on its own immeidately. After a few moments of evaluating the horse, we then released the horse from our equipment, and walked the horse out. After walking the horse for approximately 5 minutes, we then walked the horse up to another pasture that was dry. We placed two bales of hay on the Rescue Glide, and transported the hay up to the horse. His barn buddies followed. We then hosed most of the mud off our equipment at the owners barn, having to clean the rest of the equipment this weekend. We drove a short distance down the road, where we stopped and debriefed, and then proceeded home. We arrived back home at 10:30pm, after driving 131 miles round trip.

HOW ARE THEY DOING?? MOST RECENT ASKED ABOUT CALL OUTS.

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:27:10 GMT

MERS has responded on 161 Emergency Call outs since January 2006. Of the most recent call outs, there are three call outs that alot of caring MERS followers continue to aks about:

AS OF FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2011:

SAM-The 2,200 Lb. Clydesdale that was saved on February 18th, 2011 is still doing great and is happy as can be!

GUS-The Draft Horse that was rescued from the frozen pond on January 22nd, 2011 is 'living the good life' still be spoiled by his owner!

CLEO-(the most inquired about) is fully recovered and running around playing like nothing ever happened. Cleo was the mystery camel. After dozens and dozens of tests were perfomed at the end of last year, and Cleo being close to death more than once, it is now thought that Cleo probably had some type of unknown virus, and that through Cleo and the owner's determination, Cleo, through his willingness to live, kicked the virus's butt!

MERS Responds on it's 11th Call out of 2011 for a Horse Impailed on a T-Post

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:45:33 GMT

MERS received a call @ 2:00pm from a veterinarian to respond to Labadie, Mo., where a horse had been impailed on a T-Post. It is thought that this may have happened overnight during the severe weather that the area received. A Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy notified the owner, who was at work. When the veterinarian and MERS arrived on the scene, the horse had already gotten himself off the T-Post, but had lost an enormous amount of blood. The veterinarian performed emergency procedures in the field. MERS immediately placed our head protector on the incumbent horse, rolled the horse over onto the Rescue Glide, and then securely packaged the horse for transportation the the veterinarian Hospital for emergency surgery. Three MERS members rode in the horse trailer to the hospital. Although this is not a common practice, under the circumstances, it took all three members to keep the horse comforted and prevented the horse from trying to get up. Once at the hospital, we safely brought the horse into the operating room, while still packaged on the Rescue Glide. Because the wound had opened back up, we had to keep pressure on the wound with a towel until the veterinarian was ready to go to work. The horse had lost an enormous amount of blood, but had a very strong will to live, in part because it is a 5 year old horse. When we left, the horse was sedated, and the veterinarian had a huge challenge at hand, but he went to work, and we can only pray and now hope for the best.

Interesting Note: This horse has 9 lives! MERS did not know until we arrived on the scene that we saved this horse's life on January 3rd, 2008, when this horse was 2 years old, had fallen into a frozen pond in Gerald, Mo. After getting the horse out of the frozen pond, we then transported the horse 1/2 mile up to a garage, spent 4 hours warming the horse up, while the veterinarian gave the horse several units of warm IV's. For the first few hours, the temperature was not even registering on the thermometer. After several hours, we got the horse's temperature up to about 89 degrees, we then raised the horse up using our equipment, and the horse went on his way, and we thought that we would never cross paths again!

KEITH COLLIER DONATES HIS SERVICES TO MERS

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:57:00 GMT

On many of our call outs for downed horses, we must figure out a way to hook our lifting equipment up to a fixed object to serve as an anchor for our 9:1. We always look for a large beam in the barn that is strong enough to support the weight of a horse. If that is not suitable, we look for a large tree limb that is strong enough. Sometimes the owner actually has a tractor with a front loader that works ideally. When all of that fails, we have a resource available from a gentleman who owns a large Boom Truck. When the Boom Truck shows up, our entire job just got much easier.

THE BOOM TRUCK OWNER / OPERATOR

Mr. Keith Collier of Wright City, Mo. is the owner and the operator of the Boom Truck. We try to make the call to Keith our last resort, because he is a very busy man, and this is his 'donation' to MERS!

Keith Collier is a HEAVY EQUIPMENT MECHANIC/ MOBILE SHOP ON WHEELS. There is no job that Keith can't handle, including having a complete welder on board his rig. Keith works on everything from automobiles, Dump trucks, Tractor Trailers, and all other types of heavy industrial equipment, including EVERYTHING around the farm.

If you live anywhere in the surrounding areas of Lincoln, Pike, Warren, St. Charles Counties(or other selected areas), and you have a need for good quality work @ a fair price, please support Keith...he supports MERS.

KEITH COLLIER

314-749-3742 CELL

636-745-9511 HOME

2,200 Lb. CLYDESDALE Down in Barn on February 18, 2011-Wright City, Mo.

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 02:29:45 GMT

On Friday, February 18th, 2011, MERS received a call from a veterinarian @ 9:35am for a 16 year old Clydesdale that was down in a barn stall. This was a 16 year old horse, weighed in @ approximately 2,200 Lbs., and it was not known for how long the horse had been down. As we were responded, MERS communicated with the barn manager. It was established that the tractor on the premises would not be suitable for lifting, and the barn rafters would not be suitable as well. While in transit to the scene, we contacted a resource that we had in the area, Mr. Keith Collier, who works on heavy machinery, and owns a Boom Truck . Keith donates his time and expenses to MERS, and Keith responded immediately. When we arrived on the scene, the horse was laying on it's side, the veterinarian was on hand doing evaluations. It was noted that the horse had attempted to get up several times, but could not get sternal. We immediately placed our MERS Clydesdale Head Protector on the incumbent horse, and went to work. We were going to make one attempt to manually raise the horse up before the Boom truck arrived. Using our Bill Hook, and sliding it under the horse, we were able to place our two long webbings under the horse. With equal number of people on each side, we were hopeing that if we got the horse sternal, he may want to get up. We easily got the horse sternal, but he made no effort to get up. By now the Boom truck arrived. With the horse sternal, we slid the Rescue Glide under the horse. We then layed the horse on it's side, and using prussik loops, we slid the horse onto the Rescue Glide the rest of the way. In order to get the horse out of the stall in the safest manner, we then took down the entire front of the stall, which was a matter of removing screws and brackets. We were able to remove approximately 12 feet of the entire front of the stall. We then were able to bring the cable from the Boom Truck all the way into the stall, and using the winch on the Boom truck, we were able to safely slide the horse out of the stall, the barn, and into an outside open area. We had already removed our long webbings, and replaced them with the 2 short webbings for lifting. Once outside, in a very organized and methodical manner, we then raised the horse up using the Boom Truck. The horse initially was not standing, so we raised the horse up just a little higher and slowly lowered the horse down , and it began to stand on it's own immediately. While still hooked up to our equipment, the veterinarian continued doing evaluations. After approximately 10 minues, we walked the horse back and forth while still attached to our equipment and the Boom Truck, moving the Boom with the horse. After further evaluations by the veterinarian, we then removed all of our equipment from the horse, and walked the horse into it's stall. It is not known for sure why the horse went down and could not get up, but part of the reason that it could not get up was due to the fact that it had been on one side for so long, that it's right rear leg was numb. It took approximately 20 minutes of walking the horse attached to our equipment, before the horse began 'walking out' more normal. We were released by the veterinarian, we were told that the horse had a great pronosis.

To see a video of this --go to MERS -Large Animal Rescue on Facebook.

MERS traveled 100 Miles round trip

MERS Responds for a 2,000lb. Horse Down on February 09, 2011 in the rural Union, Mo. area

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 05:08:23 GMT

MERS received a call from a veterinarian @ 5:25pm for a horse that was down in a frozen pasture. 13 members responded, most of us had not eaten dinner yet. When we arrived on the scene@ 6:10pm, darkness had already set in, and the temperature was 13 degrees. There was a heavy blanket of approximately 5" of snow and ice everywhere in the area. We had to engage our 4 wheel drive to get to the address. Upon our arrival, we were notified that the horse was approximately 1/2 mile through the woods. We offloaded all our equipment into the John Deere Gator, and made the 1/2 mile drive to the horse. To get to the horse, we had to drive on a one lane farming road through the woods, down a hill, through a creek, then back up a steep hill to a plateau where the incumbent horse was. This horse weighed in @ 2,000lbs., and had been down for a few hours. The horse was in a sternal position, was blanketed, but was shivering. Part of the problem with the horse not being able to get up was the slick ice, and the horse was somewhat arthritic. We immediately placed our MERS Head Protector on the horse, and using our Bill Hook, we were able to get our two long webbings under the horse. While we were doing this, other members were setting up our generator and our portable lights. With a secondary generator, we trained our torpedo heater on the horse. At the command, we attempted to lift the horse up with the webbing. The front of the horse would raise up, but he could not collect his back legs enough into the correct position. Because the horse had been on this particular side for awhile, we then rolled the horse over onto it's opposite side. We made 3-4 additional attempts to get the horse up, without success. We then reblanketed the horse , and went with our next plan. We were going to have the raise the horse up mechanically using our spreader bar and our 9:1 mechanical system, using a rope than we rig up to run through a series of carabiners and pulleys to give us a mechancal advantage for lift. Ther was no barn suitable to hook our overhead equipment up to, and there were no trees in the area with strong enough branches. We found two strong trees, without limbs, that were approximately 25' apart from each other. Using our ladders, we stretched our chain across to the trees, approximately 14' in the air. We then attached our spreader bar to the center of the overhead chain., With that, we built our 9:1 mechanical system. This was approximately 300 feet from where the horse was located. While we were building the system, other members were monitering the horse, and keepiing the torpedo heater trained on the horse. We then went to the horse, and made one more attempt to lift the horse up, without success. So, we then rolled the horse over onto our Rescue Glide, securely packaged the horse, and using the John Deere Gator, transported the horse up to the trees where the 9:1 had been built. With all of the lifting equipment in place. We mechanically lifted the horse up using the 9:1. As soon as the horse was high enough off the ground to be horizontal, the horse began to stand immediately. While we were raising the horse up, other members were bringing the portable lights over, and the torpedo heater for the horse. With the heater on the horse, the horse blanketed, and still attached to all of our equipment, the horse was given an additional IV by the veterinarian. After approximately 20 minutes, we released our safety release, and the horse was standing 100% on its own. We then walked the horse approximately 350 feet to a lean to that the horse calls home. We then spent approximately 30 minutes breaking down all of the needed equipment, packing it up, and then made the journey back to the Rescue Trailer to put all of the equipment away. We debriefed inside the trailer, and departed @ 9:06pm.

MERS and the veterinarian felt that one of the most critical things that helped the horse survive was our torpedo heater that was trained on the horse. Within a few minutes, we were able to warm the horse up, and he quit shivering, and started looking more responsive.

Out of the 156 calls out that we have responded to since January 2006, this ranks in the top 5 for difficulty, challenges, weather conditions, and it was in the dark. The last top 5 was also most recently the horse that fell into the frozen pond.

MERS Responds on 6th Call out in 2011 on February 06, 2011

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:16:10 GMT

MERS received a call from a veterinarian for a horse that was under the veterinarian's care, but needed to be supported long term with the Anderson Sling that MERS has access to. This was a 9 month old Gypsey Vanner, and weighed in at approximately 400lbs. This presented a unique situation and challenge for MERS, due to the fact that the Anderson Sling is designed for a full sized horse that weighs in the 800-1,400 lb. range. Through alot of ingenuity, we were able to get the horse in the Anderson Sling within a relatively short amount of time.

MERS Responds to 4th call of the year on January 27th, 2011

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:52:44 GMT

On Thursday, January 27th, 2011, MERS received a call @ 12:37pm from a veterinarian to respond to a horse that was down in an outside turnout area. This was located in Portage Des Sioux, Mo., which is the far Northeast part of St. Charles County, close to Alton, Illinois. As we were approaching the farm, we noticed some people in the turnout area gathered around the incumbent horse, which had now been down for over 2 hours. As we exited our vehicle, and began to get the equipment out of the Rescue Trailer, the horse rolled over, and popped up on all four! The people said "He saw you comin'!" It was thought that for whatever reason the horse went down, the area was extremely slick and icey, which made it very difficult for the horse to get up. As we approached the horse, the veterinarian had already begun to administer an unit of IV, we observed that the horse was extremely wet from being down, and was shivering. MERS immediately took the horse into the barn, and by the time that we got inside to the stall, other members had already brought our torpedo heater in, and had it going, directing it into the stall. We spent 10-15 minutes drying the horse off, and we then placed our MERS heated blanket on the horse, and put a standard horse balnket on top of that. When the IV had run out, the veterinarian had received another emergency call and had to leave. We stayed on the scene for an additional 30 minutes until the horse was no longer shivereing.

This call out was 75 miles one way to the scene, and then we got the pleasure on the return trip of driving down 30 miles of I-270 in 4:00 rush hour traffic. The important thing is that Wyatt, this beautiful 15 year old Quarterhorse, is doing well and resting comfortably in his cozy stall tonight.

NEWS COVERAGE OF HORSE RESCUE--KSDK CHANNEL 5

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:49:10 GMT

www.ksdk.com/news/article/240137/3/Horse-rescued-from-icy-water