REILY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – A scared horse in a tight spot was rescued Sunday afternoon with the help of specially trained Butler County emergency personnel.
The Reily Township Fire and EMS was called to Kiefer Road in Germantown shortly afternoon Sunday to rescue a horse that was trapped in a well.
Reily Township Fire and EMS posted photos of the rescue on its Facebook page.
Because of its rural setting, the Reily Township fire department is trained in Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue. The department is often called to other areas of the region to assist with large animal rescues, according to Jackie Wessellman, Reily Twp. firefighter and EMT.
The blind horse apparently got spooked and backed into the well, about 6 feet deep, Wessellman said.
Reily Twp. and Germantown departments worked together for about 90 minutes to pulled the horse to safety.
Rescue workers went into the well after the horse was sedated by veterinarian Dr. John Nenni. In their post, Reily Township firefighters explained how they performed the rescue.
“The vet sedated her upon his arrival to ensure both her safety and ours. She was still able to move her back lags as we lifted her. We slowly lowered her to the ground with a combination of the excavator and manpower. The back legs did hit the ground first then we continued to lower down the rest of the body with assistance from a couple of the firefighters as well the vet monitoring.”
A woman who wrote on the Facebook post that she owns the horse thanked the rescuers and said the horse is ”doing great.”
Wessellman said the the horse was up and walking around when they left the scene.
“It was a sigh of relief when we pulled her out and saw her moving around, ” Wessellman said. “Unfortunately we do not always have that result.”
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