Horses Of The Storm tells the story of the volunteers who took part in the largest Equine Rescue ever staged in the United States after Hurricane Katrina slammed into Southern Louisiana and other parts of the Gulf Coast.

Written by Ky Mortensen, director of advancement at the Louisiana State University Equine Health Studies Program, the book is a personal account of the devastation wrought by Katrina, the thousands of volunteers who rescued horses and the horses themselves.

While most of us witnessed Katrina second hand via round the clock news stories on the ‘net, in papers and on TV, it was very difficult to get a deeper view of the complete destruction and ruin visited upon a city the size and breadth of Melbourne.

Mortensen's book is very personal, without being over dramatic or self indulgent. His writing is "quiet", compassionate without being overly emotional, often understated, but at no time do you ever feel that detail is lacking. Nothing is missing except perhaps the smell.

Most of the stories he tells are positive and many have happy endings so neither is this book despairing but you are left in no doubt whatsoever as to the struggle and fear and heartbreak that the horses, and their humans, and the volunteer rescuers in Louisiana went through. Day in and day out for weeks on end. More than likely you will cry as you read it for some of it is absolutely devastating.

Horses Of the Storm also breeds hope because it catalogues the sheer determination of the animals and the people to survive and be reunited. Mortensen relates the stories of horses locked in stables, standing chest deep in water and mud that banged and kicked at stable walls, and called out incessantly upon hearing humans nearby; others that pushed their heads into waiting halters as if to say "Get me out of here. NOW!" Photos of the stables themselves with the watermark level near the roof, leave no doubt that those who survived did so with sheer will to live and volumes of luck. His description of what the horses probably endured at the height of the floods is absolutely gut wrenching.

Mortensen gives an insight into post-Katrina Louisiana that we maybe didn't get from the news. He talks of entering areas under Military control, volunteers carrying guns, not for putting down animals, but for self protection, and the sense of urgency and fear that overlay everything they did.

In a way you get the feeling Ky Mortensen has written the book as a means of processing what he and his team experienced. He says he hopes people remember "the 'shock stories' and the 'unbelievables', these are things that tend to stick with a person; the strange stuff you know, things you haven't already heard a dozen times. These are the things no one ever wants to have to experience themselves."

The book itself is a dedication to the thousands of volunteers that endured day after day of beyond incredible situations, so outside ordinary life, and their determined commitment to rescue every single horse (and any other animal) they could.

In addition to the collection of essays, Horses of the Storm contains a disaster-preparedness guide for horse owners. Mortensen feels it is paramount that people prepare a disaster plan that includes their animals. "If someone is preparing for an emergency, then they're already doing the most important part - prepare, period. Emergency's are so varied and can come in so many different forms; there isn't really a #1 rule that would encompass everything. Just being conscious enough of your surroundings and responsible enough to make a good plan that can be beneficial to you and your animals in an emergency is the main thing."

Horses Of The Storm by Ky Evan Mortensen (ISBN: 978-1-58150-185-8) is available via ExclusivelyEquine.com or amazon.com