Heave, horse! Firefighters' desperate three-hour struggle to rescue gelding facing certain death after getting trapped in pond

 

A horse stranded in a muddy pond was rescued from certain death after firefighters spent more than three hours pulling him on to dry land.
The 27-year-old gelding, named Jeremy, was trapped up to his neck in water after wading into thick, cloying mud.
He had already been in the farm pond in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, for a few hours when his owner Jayen Renshaw found him on Monday night.

Trapped: Horse Jeremy, a 27-year-old gelding is barely able to breath as firefighters begin to pull him out

Suffering: The horse was struggling to keep his head above water when the rescuers arrived

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s specialist Water Incident Unit used their animal training to rescue Jeremy alongside the RSPCA.
Looking on were Miss Renshaw and her sister Jenny. Also there was Jeremy’s best  friend, a donkey called Misty.
Miss Renshaw said: ‘I stood back I can’t handle seeing him being moved around.
‘It was a close call, the vet gave him a lot of antibiotics and stuff to calm him down. He’s an old guy - he’s 27 years old.

Looking up: The horse is pulled to the edge of the pond and looks more likely to live as rescuers drag him out

Heave, ho! Jeremy slides further out as firefighters give an almighty tug on the ropes in a bid to rescue him

Free at last: Exhausted and on the ground, Jeremy is nevertheless alive after the firefighters' effort

Good boy: A vet pats Jeremy on his neck as he begins helping him to recover from the ordeal

Easy boy! The horse is welcomed back to dry land after being saved from near death

‘Misty was standing over there with him. I think she had to turn away at times too! They’re like little and large - they’re best buddies.’
Station Manager, Kevin O’Connor said: ‘It was up to its neck in water and suffering from hypothermia.
‘It kept trying to spin in the water every time we got ready to pull it up it would turn round. It was very close to dying, but the donkey never left its side.
‘We also had to protect the owners of the horse from danger, it was lucky no one broke their leg.’
This wasn’t the first time Jeremy has had to be rescued from water by firefighters, Jenny added: ‘Many years ago he went in the canal and the fire brigade were involved in getting him out then too.