Flint Ridge Farm Tornado Relief
On November 29th, 2016 Flint Ridge Farm was hit by an EF3 tornado and suffered extreme damage to all facilities. The main barn, green barn, and pony barn all lost their roofs and the green and pony barn suffered extreme structural damage. The indoor arena, which the pony barn was build directly next to, was completely destroyed, littering the surrounding pastures with metal siding, insulation, wood, and shards of the large mirrors. Jumps are gone or destroyed. Our pasture fences either need repair, or temporary fencing put up to protect the horses from the larger and harder to clear debris.
Thirty five horses call Flint Ridge Farm their home. Of those thirty five, we were fortunate that only 3 were injured enough for veterinary care. Thea, a boarder's horse, required stitches for a gash on her hindquarters and under her tail. Batman, a retired lesson horse and beloved retired show horse, sustained a laceration on his upper neck that required staples and was hit above the eye with debris, causing swelling. Dempsey, a retired lesson horse and the precious first pony of Sami (step-daughter of Heidi), sustained a serious laceration to his face and lower right foreleg as well as a bit of wood impaled in between his hind legs. Both Dempsey and Batman's wounds were able to be treated at the farm by Dr. Dunlap and Dr. Harney. They were later transported to the North Alabama Equine Hospital for further care and for a place to stay.
We have experienced an overwhelming amount of support since the tornado. We have received offers to provide temporary homes for horses, donations of food and drink for workers and volunteers, as well as an extraordinary amount of generosity from monetary donations through GoFundMe.
Our current plan is to try to get a roof on the main barn as quickly as possible, and to house the horses in the safe pastures until the roof is back on. This is to minimize the amount of disruption in the horse's day-to-day and to protect the horses we have that are sensitive to colicing.