South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
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“Neigh problem” say crews after firefighters praised for horse rescue

Firefighters have been reunited with a horse they rescued after it became trapped in its horse box by its legs.

Central white watch returned to meet the horse, called Nimrod, and its owner after a distressing incident back in January.

Nimrod had panicked and jumped over the jockey door in his horse box into a very small space with his back legs jammed over the top of a steel bar. His owner Colleen Eccles was unable to free him so a friend at the stables called the fire service to assist.

Firefighters were able to slowly remove the bar and rescue him from his ordeal. The crew have now been back to visit Nimrod to see how he is getting on, with Colleen using the visit as a chance to thank the crew for everything they did to save her beloved horse.

Crew Manager Jo Hoare said, “It was a challenging rescue as Nimrod is a large horse and was very scared and in pain from the position he was in. The crew worked together to release the bar. Luckily it was a happy ending and it’s been great to come back and see Nimrod in more normal circumstances.”

Owner Colleen Eccles said. “I can’t thank the firefighters enough, their brave and decisive efforts saved the life of my beautiful horse. They were amazing, despite the size and upset nature of Nimrod they safely cut him out of the terrible position he had got himself into.”

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue attends dozens of animal rescues every year. These fall under the 1,500 ‘special service’ incidents South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue attends each year, including freeing people from road traffic collisions, water rescues, flooding and lift releases. That’s on top of the thousands of house, property and smaller fires it also attends each year.

This content was last updated on February 29th, 2016