What do you do when you find a horse stuck in a swimming pool? Well, you do your level best to try to rescue it…
That’s because even though it’s not every day that first responders get a call to help such a large animal in such a tricky situation, they don’t get their training for nothing. It was on Saturday that paramedics in the local departments on Long Island in New York got that exact type of call, and they rose to the challenge.
A 3-year-old horse named Penny decided that she wanted to be adventurous and jumped a fence, but needless to say it didn’t turn out well for her. She ended up in the neighbor’s pool and broke through the cover on the deep end and became trapped.
The Suffolk County Police Department and the Bohemia Fire Department posted about the incident, sharing photos about how the incident went down.
“Just before 8am on Saturday March 19th the tones dropped for an animal rescue at a residence on Pond Rd for a horse in a pool caught in the pool cover,” the Bohemia Fire Department wrote.
“Assistant Chief Brian Olsen arrived on scene and began coordinating efforts with SCPD ESU and SCPD 5th Precinct officers. Crews from both agencies worked together to move the horse to the shallow end of the water and freed her from the cover.
“After taking a few moments to gather herself she was guided to the pool steps and with some assistance she was able to safely exit the water. Great job by all!”
The stubborn horse would not have had much chance of finding her way out on her own because she was entangled in the cover. However, when she was directed to shallow water, she was able to find the steps and make her way out.
It wasn’t just firefighters and police officers who aided in the rescue of the horse, but also several good old-fashioned Good Samaritans stepped in to help as well. This would include a man in jeans and a jacket and a barefoot woman in pajama pants. They all pulled at a strap placed around the horse, trying to put pressure on the lead attached to her halter. Unfortunately, the large mare wasn’t ready to budge at all, resisting their efforts and even having her ears pinned back.
Even a flake of hay floating near the steps wasn’t enough to convince her.
The mare didn’t look that much happier when she was finally out of the water either, with her ears still pinned back and appearing just a bit annoyed.
“With the warmer temperatures hitting Long Island this week, this 3-year-old horse, Penny, decided to go for a swim in her backyard pool,” the Suffolk County Police Department shared.
“Unfortunately this foal became entangled with the pool cover and stuck in the deep end.
“Fifth Precinct police officers, Emergency Service Section officers, and members of the Bohemia Fire Department responded on March 19 at approximately 7:50 a.m. and together, were able to safely pull Penny to the shallow end and out of the pool.”
“Penny was so grateful that she took the time to snap a group photo with some of her rescuers,” the department said.
No, “gratitude” is not something that Penny might have felt, but her owners were no doubt thankful that they were able to help and they received a bit more insight into the attitude of their sassy equine.
Some people commented in order to chide the owners for not having a fenced pool, but there were people claiming to know the owners of the horse and saying that Penny had jumped a fence that was at least five feet tall.
There were other commenters who said they have seen pool covers that claim they can support the weight of an elephant, but apparently Penny found a way around that.
It took a lot of teamwork, but thank goodness they got him out!
