Encountering rattlesnakes with your horse

August 7, 9:24 AMSF Horses ExaminerLisa Lai

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courtesy of CA Dept. Fish and Game

Recently on a warm day my two kids were with me at the ranch. They played around my tack shed for close to an hour while I did ground work with my horse. When I returned to clean up the mess they had made, I discovered a rattlesnake had been laying right where they were playing. The Diamondback was squeezed up tight trying its best to hide under the shade of a granola bar box. Thankfully, between the barn cat and my noisy kids the snake seemed to want to stay hidden. I gently nudged him on his merry way with a long stick and he seemed very obliged to move on. We were lucky no one got bit but it did bring to mind that I had a lot more questions than answers regarding rattlesnake bites."

Rattlesnakes are a part of the landscape here in San Francisco bay area and if you are out on the trails with your horse enough, you have likely seen a few.

Most of us are very careful and ride around rattlesnakes cautiously with no problem but with over 8,000 people bitten by poisonous snakes in the United States each year it is important to have accurate information.

If you are out riding and encounter a rattlesnake (if you aren’t sure of the type of snake, it is probably safest to assume it is poisonous) give the snake its space. If it is lying across the trail and has no desire to move on, you can try dismounting and tossing dust at it or stomping the ground from a safe distance. Your goal is to get the snake to move on without provoking it. Most snakes while sunning themselves just want to get warm and be left alone. As long as you don’t scare or provoke the snake it will likely just mosey away to a more peaceful spot. If you provoke the snake and get it angry then not only is it going to want to bite you but you have now given a viper a chance to “venom up”.

"Venoming up" means that the snake's bite will contain venom. The good news of course is that when a snake bites to defend itself, it doesn’t always inject venom. This is called a “dry bite” and about a quarter of all human bites are dry. But regardless, you should always treat any bite as poisonous and seek immediate medical attention.

If you are riding your horse and accidentally step into a snake's path or onto a snake itself try to keep your horse from looking down and slowly back away. A snake bite to a horse’s nose is the most dangerous scenario for your horse and a life threatening injury. Try to back away slowly and calmly as the more commotion that follows the more likely the snake will continue to strike.

There are plenty of myths as to what to do if a person or even animal has been bitten, like trying to suck the venom out or applying a tourniquet. Please follow this link to get accurate information on what to do in the event you, someone with you, or your horse is bitten.

Another precaution that Dr. Marian Davidson of Portola Valley suggests is to check with the local hospital you plan to be traveling to if whether or not they actually have the antivenin there before heading to it. Not all medical centers will have it on hand.