10 January 2023 , 11:27
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A dramatic rescue mission saw firefighters rescuing an elderly horse from a sinkhole.
Prince, aged 27, was walking in his favourite field on Saturday morning when he was sucked into the ground.
The owners noticed he'd vanished and found him trapped in a 4ft deep pit on Saturday.
A team from West Yorkshire Fire Service were drafted in to help save the chestnut horse.
They put cotton wool in his ears and covered his ears to keep him calm.
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Then, assisted by vets and the horse’s owner, they used a digger to carve open a shallow trench close to where Prince was trapped.
Then the four of the servicemen used a rope to help tug the stricken animal along the escape route.
Prince after being rescued (Kristy Simpson / SWNS)
The horse was 4ft down (West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue / SWNS)Thankfully the horse then emerged completely unharmed.
Technical rescue officer and station manager Damian Cameron said when they arrived at the scene in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Prince was quite calm.
“He had been let out of the stable as usual, into the field, and then the stable hand noticed the horse couldn’t be seen,” he explained.
Prince’s owner, Helen Tempest, praised the crew from WYFRS.
“Prince was my first pony and he is the most relaxed horse I’ve ever dealt with,” said Helen, who lives in Wyke and works in logistics in Huddersfield.
“Because of his age we just ride him once a week, he is so calm and has never got in trouble before.
"We couldn’t believe it when he got stuck in the sink hole, it was in the middle of a field he goes into every day and there have never been any problems.
The horse was helped by firefighters (West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue / SWNS)
The worked around the animal (West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue / SWNS)“The fire crews were absolutely amazing. I had no idea what to do and the crew came and took control, worked quickly and efficiently and were so good with Prince.
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"I really can’t thank them enough. Prince has come out of it totally fine and is out on a different field today.”
Station manager, Mr Cameron, added: “A sink hole can be caused by a number of things, from old mines to running water.
“We’ve had similar incidents in the past where cows have got stuck in sink holes and we do have the option of putting slings around them and lifting them out.
“However, we felt this could be dangerous for Prince and so we opted to dig him out instead.”
A nearby business, Chappelow Sports Turf, offered up an excavator for the job.
He was helped to walk out (West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue / SWNS)
He was helped out (West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue / SWNS)“Once Prince had been sedated, we started to work on getting him out and back to the surface,” said SM Cameron.
“By that point his legs were a bit numb and he still had a bit of climbing to do, but he managed to get out fairly quickly – the whole rescue took less than an hour.
“A number of years ago we carried out a rescue in the adjacent woodland when a horse had become stuck in a ditch, so the centre knew that calling the fire service was the best thing to do.
“Prince was checked and thankfully recovered from his ordeal with no injuries - we were thrilled to be able to reunite Prince with his owner.”