Fire brigade spends £5,000 on fake horse

A fire brigade has spent £5,000 pounds on a life-size horse dummy which they plan to throw into swimming pools so they can practise animal rescues.

The new exercises also involve driving into the countryside and launching the plastic amimal, which has moveable joints, into various ditches and ponds.

Firefighters then run across fields with their equipment to retrieve the dummy.



The mannequin, which weighs around 500 pounds and is 15-hands high, was initially treated with some scepticism by fire fighting crews.

But Tom Brolan, a watch manager at Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, said using the fake horse is an important part of fire fighter training in rural areas.

He said: "Animal rescue is not just a fluffy, humanitarian service but it can be very dangerous. A horse's kick can be life threatening so it's important to know how to carry out rescues safely."