“Nothing Short of a Miracle”: Exhausted Horse Rescued from Collapsed Well in Ashland County
POLK — What I witnessed Monday was nothing short of a miracle.
Members of the Polk Jackson Perry Fire District, assisted by community volunteers and Sterling Farm Equipment, rescued an exhausted horse from a water-filled well on Township Road 53 on Aug. 17.
The emergency began when the horse apparently stepped onto the top of an underground water tank or well and the covering collapsed beneath it. The animal plunged into a hole approximately eight feet deep that was filled nearly to the top with water.
Polk Jackson Perry Fire District Chief Daniel Nolt said firefighters were initially dispatched shortly before 8 a.m. for a report of a horse trapped in a well.
“When I got on scene, there was a horse in a hole in the ground, which was a tank where the top had collapsed in when the horse, I guess, stood on top of it,” Nolt said.
The horse tried desperately to climb out several times but could not escape. Each attempt drained more of its strength.
A witness said the horse eventually became so exhausted that nearly its entire head sank beneath the water. Only the end of its nose remained visible above the surface.
“You couldn’t even see its ears,” the witness said.
With the horse struggling to breathe and time running out, firefighters began feverishly removing water from the hole with buckets. Their immediate goal was to lower the water enough that the animal would not have to continue fighting simply to keep its nose above the surface.
Nolt contacted a community member who owned a water pump capable of quickly removing the dirty water.
“While we were waiting on that pump to come out, we went and got buckets and started getting some of that water out of there so the horse didn’t have to work as hard to keep its head above the water,” Nolt said.
Once the pump arrived, rescuers were able to drain the hole. The immediate danger of drowning had passed, but the horse was physically spent.
The animal lay at the bottom of the well, too exhausted to stand or make another attempt to climb out.
“The horse, we could see, was tired by the time we had that thing pumped out because it wanted to lay on the bottom and just rest,” Nolt said.
Firefighters did not observe any obvious serious injuries. However, the depth of the hole and the horse’s condition made it impossible for rescuers to pull the animal out safely using manpower alone.
That was when Sterling Farm Equipment stepped in with a service truck equipped with a crane.
Rescuers carefully placed ropes around the horse, one behind its front legs and another in front of its back legs. The crane then slowly lifted the exhausted animal from the bottom of the well and returned it to solid ground.
Throughout the rescue, the horse’s owner remained close, comforting the animal and encouraging it as firefighters and volunteers worked.
When the horse was first lowered onto the ground, it did not immediately stand.
“I don’t think the horse realized at first that the ground was beneath it and that it could stand,” Nolt said. “It took a little bit. Then it seemed like it realized, ‘Hey, I can stand up again.’”
After several tense moments, the horse found its footing, rose and walked back toward the barn.
“You could see it was tired and wet, but otherwise, it seemed like nothing ever happened,” Nolt said.
For those who watched the horse disappear beneath the water until only its nose remained visible, seeing it stand and walk away was an unforgettable moment.
The owner had nothing but praise for the Polk Jackson Perry firefighters, calling them her “heroes” and repeatedly thanking them for their professionalism and determination in saving her horse.
The rescue was accomplished through teamwork among the district’s volunteer firefighters, Sterling Farm Equipment and the neighbors, friends and community members who arrived to help wherever they could.
Nolt said unusual calls like this remind volunteer firefighters of the many different ways they serve their community.
“I thank our guys, it puts a new sense of service in their minds when we do stuff like this,” Nolt said.
The rescue was only the second involving horses that Nolt could recall in the district during approximately the last eight years. In the previous incident, horses became trapped in thick mud at the bottom of a drained pond. With no way to bring equipment to them, firefighters, neighbors and friends used sheer manpower to pull the animals to safety.
This time, buckets, a water pump, ropes, a crane and a group of determined people came together at precisely the right moment.
A horse that had been only moments from drowning was lifted from darkness, placed back on solid ground and reunited with its grateful owner.
