Horse Trapped in Hay Loft

Updated at August 26, 2008 11:46

July 17th—-MERS Responded @ 3:45pm to the Fenton area to a call where a horse was trapped in a second floor hay loft. The horse had gotten into the first floor of the barn, found a very narrow (2 feet wide) flight of steps, that went 15 feet up to the loft. As the horse traveled up the narrow steps, he actually broke through several of the steps, and sustained several superficial scrapes on his legs. Once up to the top, the horse had no way out. Upon our arrival, the horse seemed to be in reasonably good condition, with the exception of it’s leg scrapes. With the temperature in the loft over 100 degrees, the horse was very anxious about getting out. The horse continued to move about, and continued to rear up. Per our request, a veterinarian was dispatched. Upon the arrival of the veterinarian, the horse was sedated immediately . MERS then went to work. By already having our Rescue Glide in place in the loft, we placed the sedated horse onto the Rescue Glide, secured the horse, then moved the horse out a large opening on the second floor to an awaiting forklift. We carefully lowered the horse to the ground, transported the horse away from the barn, and stayed on the scene with the veterinarian until the horse could stand and move under it’s own power. MERS is very appreciative of the fact that the High Ridge Fire Department’s Tactical Rescue Unit  responded as well. Their assistance was very helpful. For more coverage and footage of this event go to www.myfoxstl.com, then type in "Rescue Team Saves Horse".

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