A horse that had managed to get itself stuck in a gate has been freed by West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s Technical Rescue Unit.
The unit was mobilised to Smithers Lane in Edenbridge on Tuesday shortly after 10am alongside the crew from East Grinstead Fire Station.
Upon arrival they found the horse with both of its front legs trapped in the metal bar gate, which had come off its hinges.
TRU Crew Manager Charlie Eastwell was one of the officers who carried out the rescue. She said: “Fortunately the horse hadn’t been trapped for too long when the owner rang us for help, so it wasn’t too distressed, which is often part of the danger with rescues like these.
“In these situations we work closely with a vet, not only for the animal’s safety, but also our own. Because we needed to cut the gate to free the horse, it was agreed the vet would sedate the horse, to prevent any further distress, and also to prevent it from trying to move any further and risk injury to itself.
“We were then able to use the pedal cutter from the East Grinstead fire engine to cut through the bars on the gate, while using our own riot shields as protection.
“Once we had remove the gate, the vet was able to check the horse over thoroughly, and fortunately it only suffered minor, superficial injuries.”
The rescue comes after the TRU recently took part in some filming with the British Animal Rescue and Trauma Care Association to share some of their own techniques for rescuing animals of all sizes from different situations. These new films will now be shared with rescue teams across the country as an example of best practice.