HEART - Humane Equine Aid and Rapid Transport

HEART provides state of the art emergency transportation services for injured or ill horses. Our highly trained crew specializes in loading and transporting horses that need urgent care.

HEART also offers programs aimed at educating the general public on standards of care for competition level horses.

HEART serves as an ambassador to the world of competitive horse showing - providing and promoting the highest standards of care for equine athletes.

HEART ambulance attendants are trained and certified in large animal rescue by TLAER.

Our Mission

Each year, in thousands of events across the country, the team of horse and rider test their skills in many forms of competition. Some of these competitions are relatively quiet and uneventful. Some pose spectacular and breathtaking challenges. While the public audience at these events takes for granted the emergency safeguards in place for the riders, there is a growing awareness of the need for equally high standards of treatment for the equine athlete.

When a horse is seriously injured during competition, the treatment or stabilization must occur on site – often in less than ideal conditions and in full view of onlookers. Recognizing the sensitivity of spectators, riders and owners to these procedures led founders of HEART to create a humane and efficient method of removing an incapacitated horse from a competition course.

In the case of a severely injured horse, the show veterinarian is able to provide treatment on site as the ambulance is pulled up to the animal. Ongoing first aid may be administered as the horse is transported to a facility for additional medical treatment. If the horse is unable to stand, HEART's highly trained crew utilizes a specially designed sled to load the horse into the customized trailer where the attending veterinarian has ample room to consider treatment options. HEART is also available on call 24/7 at events to assist horses suffering from illnesses including colic, etc.

In all cases, HEART strives to preserve the health and safety of a horse that is unable to leave the arena or course under its own power and the dignity of an animal that must be immediately euthanized.

history

Following the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Meri Straz, an avid equestrian and ambulance attendant, salvaged an equine ambulance there after the owner wanted to have it dismantled. Together with the help of her friend Jill Parsons, they began taking it to horse shows in 1997 to provide emergency transport and "HEART" was officially beating. HEART now operates two rigs and services around forty events a year at locations all along the east coast and as far west as Nebraska.

AMBULANCE HOTLINE: (540)497-1433/1462

(703)304-5248 • equineambulance@hotmail.com