In New Zealand, an 8-year-old horse fell into a drainage ditch earlier this week. The poor horse was terrified as he was completely trapped. He had to remain helplessly in this muddy ditch overnight, hoping that someone could find him and get him out of this terrible trap.
Scroll down to find out more details about this interesting rescue story!
Once this horse's owners find out how trapped he was at morning, they knew that they would not be able to get him out without help. They immediately called professional rescuers of
Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team to help them save this helpless horse's life.
“If they feel there is any inch of freedom they will try to escape. Therefore, working in close confines with a 500kg animal who wants to escape poses a great risk,” said Hayley Squance, Program Director of the Bachelor of Veterinary Technology and Associate Dean of Veterinary Programs at Massey University.
Although this kind of rescues can be dangerous sometimes, as trapped animals can have fight or flight reflexes, the amazing rescue team was able to gain the trapped horse's trust, before giving him the happy end he deserved.
Scroll through below photos to see how amazing this rescue was!
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
When this gorgeous horse was wandering the woods earlier this week, he fell into a drainage ditch. At seven feet depth, the horse was trapped helpless, terrified, and all alone. The poor horse had struggled to get out of this trap, but he eventually lost his energy and suffered from dehydration. He had nothing to do but to lay all night long in this muddy ditch, waiting for someone to help him at morning.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
When the horse owners found him by morning, they requested a rescue team to help them. When rescuers came, they posed a number of risks. The horse could not move a muscle due to the extreme narrowness of the ditch. It was very narrow so that the poor horse was even struggling to breathe!
As this rescue mission was a true challenge, the Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team called the
Horowhenua Rural Fire Force and
Palmerston North’s Urban Search and Rescue to come and help to free the desperate horse.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
The rescuers kept digging for hours, exerting all efforts to help the poor creature's life. Digging around the horse was quite stressful, as any faulty move could result in smothering the horse in more mud, or even collapsing the ditch.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
It seems that rescues like this one are rarely easy missions. Hayley Squance said, “Large animals' technical rescue is a hazardous material response due to the dangerous nature of a trapped large animal. They are fight-flight animals so all they want to do is flee.”
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
Regarding how the rescue team managed the high-risk level of this rescue mission, Squance explained, “This is why we heavily sedate the animal. We all wear helmets along with other personal protective equipment and anyone working close to a horse is in a harness with a rope attached to them, so they can be pulled out of the danger zone if the animal starts to react.”
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
When Squance was asked about how the rescue team knew that they act exactly right in this mission, she answered, “Our team trains regularly for all different rescue scenarios (large and small animal including high-angle, swift water, and tree rescues). Our team members have internationally recognized (Rescue 3) Animal Rescue Technician qualifications.”
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
This amazing rescue team was certainly this desperate horse's best shot at survival. They were acting very professional as they continued their hard mission until the horse was eventually free.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
“For large animal-rescue training, we have a horse size (250kg) rescue mannequin, which we use during our training exercises. Many of us work in the veterinary profession and have collectively for over 70 years, so we are using our veterinary and animal handling skills on a daily basis,” Squance added.
Although the circumstances were terrifying, this incredible team trusted on their training, and all worked amazingly together to save this beautiful horse's life.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
Thankfully, the rescue team was able to prove to this terrified horse that they were there to free him. Slowly but surely, they ushered the scared horse out of this muddy ditch, and just 15 minutes later, he was able to get back on his feet. Although healing this beautiful horse from his trauma can take a while, at least he had a spirit of a survivorand showed positive signs that he will recover in short time.
Image Credit: Facebook / Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
Thanks to these amazingly patient and well-trained rescuers, this trapped horse was freed. We hope that he will continue living a long and happy life.
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