Labrador Retriever Forum
Feel free to cross post...
I've received a ton of calls and emails on our Haflinger pony's rescue from our pool yesterday, and I thank you all tremendously... Star is doing pretty well, but has some wounds on her right hind, and has some lung congestion... Her temp is back up, but she's on an antibiotic... She is eating and peeing/pooping... I think she will be ok :)
The trauma/drama (there's a reason these words rhyme!!!) which is all over local news and youtube began just about 2:00 pm yesterday when Star dismantled split rails to get from one paddock to another...with the latter not having a locked gate... She was free to open land, but decided she would jump/plow over overgrown wire fencing around a small section of our pool fencing to get in there, and appears to have immediately entered the deep end. We have a Loop Lock cover, but it seems her panic did put holes in it...but it never disconnected from the sides... When I got to her she had put 3 big holes in the cover at the deep end, and her rear was sinking through. I was able to grab her halter and hold her near the edge with her nose up...she was freezing and exhausted... A friend...who had noticed her in there in the first place!!...called 911 and set things in motion... The Animal Control person is a horse person and was quickly the first on the scene... Fire and Police followed and cut the cover to make a path to get Star to the shallow end... We could not get her to jump out nor climb a makeshift ramp... She was hypothermic, exhausted and weakening... A county rescue group had some experience with emergency horse issues like this, and they arrived! They had a harness they had designed a few years before... The Town sent a backhoe from the other side of town... In the end...more than 2 hours after Star entered the pool...when the backhoe was in position, Star was sedated by Dr. Dana Pantano from Black Pond Veterinary Service, and 2 emergency divers in dry suits got a harness on her, with a man's life jacket on her neck, and a floating boom under her throat... Although Dr. Pantano was not my regular vet, she was able and ready to get here way more quickly than my regular vet...and was spectacular! She had been through this before, and communicated well with the emergency personnel. As soon as the divers were ready, she was hoisted with the backhoe to terra firma... The backhoe operator was perfect!! She was able to stand, and walk slowly to the barn and her stall... We rubbed her down, loaded her with coolers and blankets... which were changed several times... All the emergency folks were great... There were 3 TV helecopters, and many TV/Radio/Newspaper reporters... There were live reports (from outside the barn only) on 10:00 and 11:00 news stations... Oh My God!!! What an experience... Not to be repeated!!!
PS Star got multiple hot bran mashes... Neighbors brought over a boiled dinner for me :) The Labradors were troopers being locked up for hours in the kennel watching the entire thing, and over 100 strangers all over the place... I love them!!!
Thanks again for all your warm thoughts :) There really are a ton of horse people in the Labrador world!
A
Holy Cow...I mean holy horse Abby! What a harrowing experience. Isn't it wonderful how people can organize so quickly in desperate times, put their collective heads together and create a miracle. Hope Star recovers completely and is her old pony self in no time.
OMG Abby what an ordeal! Thank God you were able to get her out and she is okay.
And thank God for all the emergency people that were there to help. Amazing how people pull together in an emergency.
In all our years raising horses never went thru that.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/horse-rescued-from-pool-in-marshfield
