Horse community reacts to stable fire at The Big E

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – Silent Serenity Training of Belchertown currently has four injured animals on its hands.

While they say they are grateful for the help they received that night, they say fair officials downplayed the seriousness of the situation.

On Sunday, the stalls at the Quiet Peace Training in Belchertown were filled with sights and sounds of support and first aid.

Four of the horses living in the stables are some of the more than 160 horses that were released after a fire broke out in Barn C at the Big E Fairgrounds on Friday night.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was not criminal in nature, according to Fairground officials.

Hailey Fountain’s horse, Riker, suffered a cut and lost his shoe, but her horse, Pino, now has several serious cuts on his legs.

“When they’re scared to be inside, it’s very difficult to take care of their injuries. They’re obviously going through a lot mentally, but they can’t talk to us,” Hailey Fountain, owner of Silent Serenity Training, told Western Mass News.

Meanwhile, Jamie Caesar’s horse Dante escaped from the Fairgrounds.

“I didn’t know what to feel, what to think, all I could think about was my horse was gone… I had no emotions,” says Jamie Caesar, riding instructor at Silent Serenity Training.

He says he was found on Route 5 with an injury that required 50 stitches.

They now have to frequently attach a hose to his drain to help him recover.

“There are 24 stitches on the inside for the muscle and 24 on the outside for the skin for the flap,” Caesar says.

“A drain was inserted into the wound, and stitches were placed on both sides of the drain, preventing fluid from leaking out of the wound,” he adds.

They were not the only horses injured.

That night, veterinarian Kris Koss, who was working at the fairgrounds, was one of three veterinarians treating injuries.

He remembers what he saw.

“We went from stall to stall and evaluated all the horses, cleaned the wounds as I said, there was no excessive blood loss, no serious injuries like punctures or fractures,” Kross explains.

The situation could be much worse, the expert told Western Mass News.

“More than a dozen horses had multiple stitches,” he said. “A lot of horses had scrapes and what we call road rash,” Kross added.

Horse owners say it will be a long road to recovery regardless of the severity of the condition.

“We have to do 24/7 care and monitoring to make sure there is no infection,” Kross says.

Jamie and Hailey say they wish authorities were more transparent about the seriousness of the situation and the work horse handlers are doing.

They say one of the young riders helped open the barn doors and get dozens of horses out of the barn and away from the flames.

“The incidents are not taken as seriously as they should be, there must be a safe way to evacuate horses from stables in the event of a fire,” they say.

“If this had happened an hour before the concert started, I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to all the people there,” they added.

We reached out to Big E for comment and here is part of the statement we received:

“We are grateful for the quick response of the authorities and our team, including the participants.”

We have learned that C Barn is back in business and activities have resumed at Olossieum, including the barn that was started by the fire.