Horse stuck on gate has lucky escape

A hunter has had a lucky escape after he became stuck on a fence.

A vet and three fire crews from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, including an animal rescue team, arrived to help free “Henry” from his predicament on Monday (8 February).

His owner, Netia Walker, who hunts with the Beaufort, described it as a “jolt” back to reality after enjoying a weekend away.

“It was seriously windy, so I went outside to catch the horses and bring them in,” she told H&H.

“Henry refused to come in and it took ages battling through the gale to get them.

“Then I heard a thunder of hooves and saw he had jumped all the fences around to home.”

She said that she saw him slip, his front legs went up in the air and came down on the wrong side of the five-bar gate — leaving him stuck.

“The poor thing just blotted his copy book,” she added.

“He looked at me, but there was nothing I could do.

“I called the vet first, who was amazing because he is really nervous and doesn’t really like anyone but me around him.”

A vet from B&W Equine Vets’ Willesley practice arrived to sedate Henry so he could be freed.

However, he panicked and trapped his leg further in the gate.

The vet sedated him and sawed off one of the beams to free his limb.

Firefighters then arrived to release the rest of the horse.

As Henry was trapped over the point of the gate, cutting through the top beam would have risked impaling him on the spoke underneath.

The firefighters carefully sawed through parts of the structure to allow Henry to be freed, unscathed.

Popular articles:

• Racing hero Denman to parade for crowds at Newbury
• Daring riders take on bareback hunting challenge
• Victoria Pendleton eyes first hunter chase on journey to Cheltenham

“The firefighters were amazing, absolutely incredible,” said Mrs Walker.

She added that Henry was “so lucky” to escape without injury and he is going hunting next week.

Lucy Elder

H&H senior news writer

Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.