In Reisterstown, Maryland, Baltimore County firefighters helped to free a horse that had fallen into a pit after the plank he had been walking over collapsed.
Along with 30 rescuers from the Howard County Fire Department and Rescue Services’ Special Operations, the teams worked together to lift the horse out of the pit 8-10 feet deep.
First the team shored up the sides of the pit to keep it from caving in, and then a veterinarian was lowered into the pit to administer a sedative to help keep the horse calm. A sling attached to a crane was then slipped around the horse’s body, and slowly he was pulled up to safety. Miraculously, the horse was not injured.
Animal rescue #Final-Update. #BCoFD & Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services Special Ops safely extricated the horse @ 9:36am with crane assistance from a local tow company. Horse is now in care of a Vet. Approx. 30 Fire Dept. personnel were on scene.
So how did the horse arrive at the spot where he fell into the hole? It seems the horse had escaped from his home a few miles away where he slipped out from a break in the fence. The hole had been from an old septic dry well which had caved in during the winter; a temporary plank had been there to keep anyone from falling in, but no one expected a horse to walk over it. The property owner had applied to his insurance company to pay to fill in the well, but they had dragged out the investigation and just recently denied his claim. The property owner plans to have the hole filled in this week.
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