A horse in west Dorset had to be rescued by fire crews at the weekend after it became trapped on a footbridge.
Tina, a 22-year-old mare, became stuck when the wooden bridge over a stream gave way and her hind legs fell through it around 4pm on Saturday 22 February.
“One pump from Bridport Fire Station, a technical rescue team from Weymouth Fire Station and a supporting officer were all mobilised to a large animal rescue in West Dorset,” said a spokesperson for Bridport Fire Station.
Due to the location of the incident and the type of entrapment, rescue crews were unable to use standard lifting equipment or place lifting strops under the horse.
Instead, crews used hay bales and wooden pallets to create a platform under Tina with the aim of being able to move her legs to a vertical position and see if she could push herself up and out of the bridge.
Change of plan
The plan didn’t work however, so after several failed attempts and with the light fading and Tina becoming tired, crews enlisted the help of a local farmer with a tele-handler.
“This [the telehandler] was used to support the rear of the bridge so that crews could cut away the floor behind the horse and the supports to allow the bridge to be lowered to an angle, where again the horse could push itself up and out of the hole and be able to walk up the bridge,” continued the spokesperson.
“Crews tried multiple times to get the horses legs and the bridge in the correct position to assist the horse out, but unfortunately the horse reared up and fell further through the bridge and was now almost in a vertical position.
“The last option was to now dismantle the bridge from around the back of the horse, lay a bed of hay bales under the horse and lift the bridge up and over the horse, allowing it to fall the remainder of the way through.”
After around four hours Tina was freed and was led to safety. She was checked by a vet and found to have only suffered from a few scrapes and bruises.
“This was a challenging incident and our thanks goes to the farmers, vet and horse owners for assisting us,” said the spokesperson.
Images © Bridport fire station/DWFRS.
