Rescue Me: First Responders Save Horses in Peril

This past week saw two major rescue efforts to save two horses and one pony from peril.

First in California, which has had seen some torrential rains recently in addition to last summer’s historic wildfires, an owner discovered her horse and pony trapped in a mudslide and called the fire department and the SPCA. Teams arrived and in a harrowing rescue caught on video, managed to pull both animals to safety.

“It definitely took a village to get these horses out,” Beth Brookhouser, Monterey County SPCA spokesperson told the media.

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A series of photos posted on the SPCA’s twitter account shows both horse and pony post-rescue looking exhausted, but in seemingly good condition considering their ordeal. “The horses, a mare and a smaller pony, were very cold after spending the night immobilized in the muck. It wasn’t until hours later that the horses stopped shivering,” Brookhouser added.

It took 3 hours to get Angel out of the slurry pit. (Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service)

Across the pond in England, two teams from the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service answered the call about a horse found trapped in a 3×3 foot (1m) hole. The hole was an access pit to a farm’s slurry store, a massive round concrete or metal structure used to contain manure and other farm run-off. The horse, a 26-year-old senior named Angel, was according to one of the rescuers, “well and truly trapped.”

It took the rescue squads, aided by a local farmer, two digging machines and a caterpillar three hours to pull Angel free. “The crews quite literally dug the horse out, then using an animal rescue kit lifted the horse to safety,” the rescue team member told the BBC. “The horse was successfully rescued and is now hopefully going to make a full recovery.”