January 10, 2009-Horse Down in Mud

Updated at January 13, 2009 11:48

On Saturday, January 10th, MERS responded to a horse that was down in a small outside fenced area adjacent to the barn. The horse had been down for some time, and was shivering. The temperature was below 30 degrees, it was snowing very lightly, and the mud that the horse was in had patches of ice around it. The horse had actually created a small crater in the mud, which made it very difficult for the horse to initially get out on its own. MERS placed the cold, shivering horse onto our Rescue Glide, and transported the horse approximately 50’ to a large open pasture. We then hooked up our specialized Rescue Equipment to the horse to lift the horse into an upright position. This was accomplished with the help of the farm’s tractor. Once the horse was in the upright position, MERS placed our propane heater close to the horse, and massaged the horse’s muscles. After about 10 minutes, we released the horse from our equipment, and walked the horse in the pasture for approximately 15 minutes. What little stiffness the horse had in its legs, it very quickly walked out. The horse was led into an awaiting stall. The horse is doing great, but the veterinarian was still called as a precautionary measure. MERS Rescue Trailer logged 120 Miles on this call.

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