Watch As OC Firefighters Free A Spooked Horse

YORBA LINDA, CA — Firefighters from Orange County Fire Authority worked to save a retired barrel racing horse that was stuck in a ditch, Thursday.

Owner Sam Fossum was riding her mare, Dawn, on a trail off of Ohio Street, in Yorba Linda when the horse became spooked for unknown reasons. The horse ended up sliding down deep into a ditch filled with bushes, shrubs and branches and became entangled, OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz said. Fossum called for firefighter's assistance at approximately 1 p.m. when she realized the horse was unable to get out.

"When the technical rescue team arrived, the horse was laying face-down in the ditch," Kurtz said. The team then evaluated the situation for the animal which weighs in the neighborhood of 1,000 pounds, determining the best way to free the equine as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Firefighters cut vegetation around the horse to free it, then used ropes looped around the horse, and tied to the bridle, to pull and leverage the horse back onto the trail off of Ohio Street in Yorba Linda.

The owner was quite relieved and the horse was much happier once it got back on the trail, according to Kurtz. The horse did sustain superficial injuries, but is otherwise doing fine.

"We train our firefighters to rescue all residents of Orange County... even the four-legged kind," Kurtz said.

Photos, courtesy OCFA