Two horses stranded on their sides in a swampy mess were hauled to safety by 40 first responders who battled through knee-deep mud in Connecticut woods to pull off the strenuous, five-hour rescue, officials said.
The horses wandered about three-quarters of a mile behind a Lebanon farm when they got stuck in a “swampy area” Saturday, the city’s volunteer fire department said.
One in the pair was trapped for seven hours, according to the department.
Rescuers with multiple agencies used a cargo truck to shuttle equipment, including ropes, wood and plywood, to the scene to build a sled to help yank the animals out of the deep muck.
“The access road was complete mud and there was a river to cross [halfway] in,” the department wrote.
A makeshift bridge was put together with logs, cribbing and plywood so rescuers could walk into the woods.
After the first horse was rolled onto the sled, it took about 30 minutes to bring the animal to firm ground. The rescuers took another 30 minutes to get the second horse to safety by 6 p.m.
Photos of the dramatic rescue show a harness wrapped around one of the horses as rescuers got ready to pull the sled out of the woods and also showed emergency workers cutting and lugging logs to the muddy scene.
Overall, it took five hours to set up a path to reach the horses, free them from the mud, and evaluate their health, the fire department said.
While both horses were in “mild distress,” they were able to stand up without an issue and soon started munching on some fresh hay, the fire department said.
