Volunteers rescued a horse that had fallen into a pool.
Horse Rescued After Falling Through Pool Cover in Virginia
A horse in Virginia was safely rescued after a recent mishap involving a covered pool.
Earlier this month, Prince William County Fire and Rescue System responded to a call from a homeowner in the Nokesville area after a horse fell into their pool.
The horse had reportedly wandered over the pool's canvas cover overnight, which had — predictably, with hindsight — given in under the animal's 900-pound weight.
In the morning, the homeowner found the 16-year-old pony, named Shortcake, standing in roughly four feet of water.
The rescue team found the horse calmly waiting for help in the pool.
The Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue dispatched its Large Animal Rescue Team, including the retired Little Fork Chief Doug Monaco, to help out the unfortunate quarter horse.
"Luckily, she remained calm and waited for her rescue," the Rescue Team wrote on Facebook alongside photos of the rather intense-looking mission. "The owners attempted to remove her via the steps, and this proved unsuccessful."
The rescue process was a grueling task.
The Rescue Team went on to devise a carefully thought-through plan to remove the horse from the pool.
"We decided to use plywood and two rescue glides on the pool edge," they explained on social media. "Using a sideways drag, we would use the numerous on scene firefighters to pull Shortcake up the glides and out of the pool."
They sedated Shortcake to make the process run more smoothly and their technique proved successful, with the animal being pulled out of the pool soon afterwards.
The rescue team managed to haul the horse up onto dry land.
"Shortcake stumbled a little but walked away and was led to her barn/pasture," the Facebook post continued.
"The vet and owners dried her off, covered her with blankets evaluated her for hypothermia. Her core temp was almost normal. She was walking around and doing fine as we retrieved our equipment and headed back home."
Once safely upright, the horse was wrapped up in a blanket to dry off.
From the photos, it's clear that the rescue mission was highly elaborate: It involved a large crew of volunteers and a whole bunch of equipment including "3/4” plywood, wide rescue straps, rope, glides and hoof hooks."
"We would like to thank our volunteer technicians who responded to help Shortcake," the Rescue Team wrote.
"This includes the other Little Fork volunteers who covered our ambulance and engine while we were out of the area. A total of 16 members who assisted with this incident. We also thank the PWC firefighters who made our job so much easier!"
The service operates free of charge and therefore went on to ask for support from the public in the form of donations.
If you'd like to learn more about the kind of work the Little Fork Fire & Rescue does or donate to the service, you can do so over on their website.