When we think of animals stuck in a tree and having to be rescued by the fire department, cats come to mind. But for one senior horse in England, his ability to move between two trunks really stumped him.
Eddie, a 28-year-old draft horse, somehow got wedged between several skinny tree trunks at a farm in Suffolk. Enter the Suffolk Fire and Rescue team who freed Eddie using specialized animal rescue gear. The horse appears no worse for wear.
The department posted images of the rescue effort on its Facebook page. “Meet Eddie, the 28-year-old horse who was safely & professionally released by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service. Excellent work by crews who used animal rescue and battery rescue equipment to successfully free Eddie after he got stuck between trees.”
His owner, Caroline Phillips, thanked the rescue crew, writing, “Thank you so much for your help… have to admit he is my horse… think his antics are getting worse in his old age… good job he is a calm boy… we all love him dearly even tho more grey hairs have appeared after today.”
No word on whether Phillips was referring to an increase in grey hair on her head or Eddie’s coat!
Cool headgear! (San Diego Humane Society photo)
Across the pond in the United States ‒ San Diego, California, to be exact ‒ an incident on a busy highway resulted in the local humane society mobilizing and coming to the aid of three horses that fell after a divider collapsed inside their trailer.
According to the San Diego Humane Society’s Emergency Response Team, the owner and driver of the horse trailer pulled off the highway and into a parking lot. He was able to get two of the three animals to stand, but not the third, a Friesian mare.
With a nine-member Emergency Response Team and two humane society officers, plus a veterinarian who sedated the mare, they were able to incorporate a device to lift the Friesian to a standing position. The poor horse can be seen wearing an inflatable hood to protect her head from injury during the process. The effort began around 2:30 pm and by 4 pm she was not only able to stand, but was safely loaded into another trailer for the drive home.
You can watch a video here showing some of the rescue.