The Volunteer Fire Department in Lebanon, Connecticut, recently received a call about two horses stuck in mud at a nearby farm. The rescue mission, which ended successfully, lasted five hours and saw 40 volunteers from the fire department and other organizations taking part.
The horses wandered off from the farm into a “swampy area” located almost one mile into the woods. The unforgiving terrain that prevented the access of the necessary equipment and the fact that the animals got stuck “up to their undersides” made the rescue attempts quite challenging.
With mud being waist-deep for the rescuers, they decided to build a bridge to the horses and roll them onto a sled device. Once on the sled device, the horses, unable to stand from exhaustion, were pulled by a team of volunteers to the solid ground.
The horses were checked up by a veterinarian afterward and were found in “mild distress,” but it was determined that they wouldn’t have any long-term consequences.
“Both horses had been warmed up enough to stand, and we are happy to report both got up without issue and were happily eating some fresh hay,” the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department wrote in a post shared on Facebook while attaching several photos of the rescue mission.
