On February 26, a horse named Misty got stuck in a frozen pond on a farm in Michigan. Misty’s owner, Mary Tegethoff, owns and operates Mary’s Country Critters, a farm where kids can learn and interact with animals.
Initially, Tegethoff attempted to free Misty herself, telling a local news crew, “I went and got a lead rope and tried to get her out, but after about 15 minutes, you realize you’re not going to be able to get her out of there.” Her next step was calling 9-1-1.
Deputy James Kimber, who had spent 12 years on the Allegan County Sheriff’s mounted division, was first on the scene. “She told me she thought [the ice] was about 5 inches thick, and the horse was coming up on her withers, which is about shoulder height on a horse, and she didn’t know how long that the horse had been in there,” Deputy Kimber said in a report. Then he added, “When I first got there and walked to the edge, you could see ripples coming off of her, she was shaking so bad when you were up close. So I knew she was in rough shape.”
Kimber awaited the arrival of the fire department’s dive team, who showed up within minutes. “Those guys are my heroes,” Deputy Kimber said. “I mean, they had the chainsaw out, we evaluated everything.”
According to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, where they posted images of Misty’s rescue, the fire department were able to free the horse in under 30 minutes by cutting the ice and creating a path for the horse to exit the water. We’re sure that Misty was happy to set foot in her stall that day.
Then on March 4 in North Carolina, Reba Wagner and her horse Mayday were riding in the woods when somehow the animal became stuck in what reports call a “creek bed” but what resembled a deep and narrow ditch.
The appropriately-named Mayday was apparently stuck for over an hour before the emergency crews got the call.
The local animal control has a highly trained Large Animal Technical Rescue team who worked to free Mayday, and according to Todd Moser, animal control warden, both horse and rider were “thankfully OK.”
Due to the location, which was tough to reach, the fire department and volunteer fire department came to help, providing ATV’s to haul gear.
According to Moser, with the manpower and equipment on hand, Mayday was back on her feet in less than an hour. A vet who was also called to the scene, checked out the mare and declared her fit. They even took a group photo:
Mayday and her heroes.
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