Horse Rescued From Deep Well In Forest Hill

FOREST HILL, MD — Firefighters launched a special rescue operation Friday morning after receiving a report that a large horse had fallen down into what was believed to be a sinkhole with only its head protruding above ground level.

The Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company received the call for the horse rescue in the 2000 block of High Point Road. According to reports, the horse actually had stepped onto and fell through the cover of an old dry well or deep underground silo.

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Because of the horse's size and the depth of unstable sinkhole, a Harford County special operations technical rescue team was dispatched to help with the mission. Crews spent several hours carefully stabilizing and rigging the horse in order to safely extract it.

The Baltimore Sun reported that local farmers showed up with heavy ag machinery and front loaders to help rescuers lift the large horse out of the hole. Responders sedated the horse while it was still in the hole, reports indicated, in order to help keep it from panicking and fighting against the rescuers.

According to The Maryland Horse Council, once the horse was hoisted out of the pit, it was treated on scene for a large cut on its leg while rescue workers waited for an emergency vet unit to arrive. Some reports indicate that the horse lost some mobility in its rear legs from the pressure and length of time it spent trapped.