Shea Center Blog

OC Firefighters Learn Horse Rescue Techniques

April 23, 2024

The Shea Center, in collaboration with the Gary Sinise Foundation, hosted its third annual Equine Training with OC Fire Authority’s Urban Search & Rescue Team (US&R), with 146 first responders on-site at our therapeutic horseback riding center. Watch the video below to see the firefighters in action. 

Local Orange County, CA fire departments were on-site at The Shea Center for the three-day training, which covered equine accident response and horse rescue harnessing techniques. While working with Shea therapy horses, these firefighters expanded their knowledge of horse rescue procedures, horse behavior,  loading and unloading horses out of a trailer, and other new skills with hands-on training.

History of this Training:

In 2021, OCFA rescued Choco, a Shea Center therapy horse who became trapped in San Juan Capistrano’s open space during a trail ride. OC fire officials used a helicopter to airlift Choco to safety after digging him out from under concrete and exposed rebar in an extraordinary and highly technical horse rescue.

In March of 2022, the first training of OCFA firefighters took place at The Shea Center over three days, with more than 100 firefighters and first responders in attendance.