Horse buried up to the neck rescued by firefighters

Firefighters in New Zealand called to an animal rescue were shocked to find a horse buried with only its head sticking out of the ground. The horse's owner called emergency services to Sanders Reserve in Paremoremo at 2.15pm on Sunday. Albany station officer Graham Haycock said when firefighters arrived only the horse's head was left above the surface. ''I've never seen anything like it before. I've been to plenty of horse rescues but not like this one.''



Owner Kelly Anderson was visiting the reserve for the first time with her horse Lee. She was crossing a dam between a pond and a culvert when the ground gave way and the horse's back legs fell into a large hole. Anderson said it was horrible to see Lee trapped. ''I knew there was no way she could get out herself.'' Haycock said they needed the manpower of eight firefighters from Albany and Takapuna stations to save the animal. ''We had six doing all the heavy, hard work and a couple of officers making sure everyone was safe and taking control.''

They dug a ramp in front of Lee and slowly winched her out. But within seconds of being free the horse lost its footing and fell into the culvert, which was about 1.5 metres deep. ''Out she popped but then because everything was wet and slippery she slipped over,'' Haycock said. The firefighters managed to haul Lee out of the culvert and safely return her to a ''very happy'' Anderson. Haycock saids there were a few exhausted firemen after the 45-minute rescue. ''Rescuing horses can be filled with all sorts of dangers.



''When they're stressed and scared they can thrash around, but the guys came through unscathed so I was pleased.'' A vet was also on the scene and said she examined the horse after the firefighters ''did all the hard work''. Anderson said she was very thankful to the firefighters and vet. ''There was a lot of support which was great.'' Lee is bruised and sore, but happily resting in the paddock at Anderson's Dairy Flat home. She has a couple of cuts on her legs and is on painkillers, Anderson said. ''It means she gets an extra feed which she's quite happy about.''