Canal horse rescue

IT TOOK firefighters two hours to rescue a horse that had slipped into the Fens Branch of the Stourbridge Canal.

The three years old horse was stuck in the mud and was distressed and exhausted by its attempt to get out, with the fire people going into the water in wet suits, wrapping a fire hose around it and slowly easing it out of the silt in the bottom of the canal, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Struggling

It was a dog walker who saw the animal struggling to get out, and so contacted the emergency services.

By the time the rescuers arrived, it had sunk so far into the silt that only it head was above water, so they took immediate action using their fire hose and salvage sheets to secure the horse before slowly pulling it out.

Once on the bank the animal was checked by a member of the Equine Emergency Services, and then taken to a rescue centre where it was assessed, cleaned up and cared for.