Drowning horse saved by dedicated father

With the recent cold weather, many rivers and lakes have frozen over, making it hard for people and wildlife alike to differentiate between solid and frozen ground. There have been several recent stories about horses and other wildlife which have mistakenly ventured onto frozen water and, sadly, most of these had tragic consequences.

However, the story of a dad who managed to help rescue his daughter's horse which fell into a frozen lake has a much happier outcome.

The dad of six from Wintersett, West Yorkshire, was taking his daughter's horse, Harry, for a walk when he briefly let go of the reins to shut a gate, allowing the horse to trot off.

"I couldn't keep up with him. He was trotting in the direction of the lake. I saw him go towards the middle of the lake and he went straight through the ice. All of a sudden his head bobbed back up," the dad said.

After dialling 999, the father found a step ladder to make his way down the bank and a rope to tie around the horse's head so he wouldn't go under.
When emergency services arrived at the scene, the man had fallen in with the horse and firefighters first had to pull him to safety before helping the horse out of the water.

The horse was wrapped in horse rugs and encouraged to move around to help raise its temperature.

Speaking of his ordeal, the man said, "It was a stupid thing going for the horse but I had to do it. He's an ex-racehorse and a family pet who belongs to my 10-year-old daughter."

Both the horse and the dedicated father appear to have escaped the incident relatively unscathed and are recovering well.

[Image © Gayle Parker via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]