11/12/07 Wildfire

The Ranching Community and Wildfires In the midst of the devastation caused by the California wildfires there were stories I would expect. The unwritten law of ranching is to help your neighbor in a crisis, and that held true in California where ranchers and horse people worked together to save thousands of horses, cattle and miscellaneous farm animals from the wildfires. Here's Susan with the story. Jeff, there are a lot of horses in California and it took "a lot" of individuals working many hours together to save them. It sounds like virtually anyone with a horse trailer showed up to haul farm animals to safety, some making numerous trips back to the fire. Ranches and stables opened up their facilities and at one farm 700 horses were contently munching truckloads of donated feed while hundreds of volunteers cared for the displaced equines A reporter awed by the outpouring was told " If you know anything about horse owners it is the smallest group of people there is". From trainers, to ranch hands everyone pulled together to keep what one man described as "the integrity of a good clean ranch" . He cited the fact the camaraderie in midst of terrible tragedy made everyone feel like one big family. The ranching community is "one big family" in fact I heard rancher and past AQHA President Frank "Scoop" Vessels not only opened his ranch to 350 horses but cooked a big steak dinner for over 50 people evacuated from their homes. I'm Jeff Keane.