A few years ago, the Erie County Fair reinstated their nightly fireworks for each of the 12 days of the fair. When the announcement was made, excitement, of course, made its way to just about everyone. However, once it was found out that the location of the fireworks would be almost directly above the horse barns, some people's excitement quickly turned to dread. We trained our horses to not spook at plastic bags, umbrellas, flashing lights, tarps, etc. We worked with them for months to make sure they were ready for anything that may arise at the fair; or so we thought. But how could we ever prepare for this? Livestock in general can be stressed by loud noises such as fireworks. However for horses, the stress does not only last the length of the show; their stress can last for hours after. While you and your family are sitting and watching the spectacle of lights and patterns, we are sitting as close as possible to our horse's stall without being too close for either of us to be hurt. While you are saying "wow" at the beauty, we are saying "shh, calm down". You tell your child "it's ok. Nothing will hurt you. I'm here. Watch! It's pretty". We desperately try to convey that message to our fur babies, but they don't understand. All they know is that there are loud scary noises going on that they can't see. All they see is that we are standing on the other side of the door unable to comfort them; because if we go in, there's a chance they'll want to be so close to us that we both get hurt. While you're sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation for the fireworks, so are we; but not for the same reason. Your kids squeal with excitement. Our animals squeal in terror. We have to stand there as we watch the confusion and terror in their eyes. We have to watch as they try to climb out of the stalls or pace in them. You have tears in your eyes due to happiness of your kids and family having the best day ever. We have tears in our eyes as we watch our animals hurt and stress themselves out after what was supposed to be a fun day. This is just my story with my horses. However there are other animals that I know are frightened by fireworks. There are people as well who get overwhelmed due to the loud noises or even the lights. There are a select few who are excited by fireworks, yes. But is it worth the risk to have people and animals hurt over a few minutes of "fun"? The fair started as a way for people to showcase their animals. Let's remember the roots and take care of those animals before they and we are too traumatized to come back. Let's forget the fireworks.

Click here to see one of our horses reacting to the Erie County Fair's Firework Show!