On a sunlit April 6 morning at The Shea Center, firefighters stood beside horses instead of fire engines, learning how to read body language, apply rescue harnesses and safely approach animals in distress.
The training, now in its fifth year, brings together firefighters from across Orange County for hands-on large-animal rescue instruction at the San Juan Capistrano nonprofit. The program began after a 2021 rescue involving a Shea Center horse named Choco, who fell into a ravine on a San Juan trail and had to be airlifted out. The first version of the training launched in 2022.
“This program that we’re doing today is the only one of its kind,” said Holly Hadden, chief philanthropy officer for The Shea Center…