A mare has been dragged out of a canal using a tractor after her rider fell off and she tumbled into the freezing water.
Firefighters from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service were called to the Leeds to Liverpool Canal near to Pennington Flash, Wigan on Sunday (8 December) to try and rescue the horse, called Honey.
When the firefighters arrived passers by were trying to reach the 6-year-old in the water.
“The horse was quite distressed so we worked alongside a vet who sedated the horse,” said station manager Ben Levy.
“A local farmer turned up and we used his tractor to lift the horse and get slings underneath the animal.
“Slings were tied to the fork lift of the tractor and crew from Eccles’ Water Incident Unit — who are specially trained in large animal rescue — safely lifted the horse from the water.”
The horse’s rider was lying on the bank about 300 meters away and was taken to hospital with suspected chest injuries.
“Luckily nobody else was injured but there were people trying to go in and get hold of the horse before we arrived so there could have been further injuries,” Mr Levy added.
“I’d urge the public to never attempt to rescue an animal or person trapped in open water because you could get into difficulties yourself.”
A vet treated the horse afterwards and both horse and rider are expected to make a full recovery.
