A Kell man was freed uninjured from under a horse in a pond in the 800 block of Route 37 in Kell Sunday morning.
Kell Assistant Fire Chief Jason Franke says three Kell Firefighters initially arrived on the scene to find the man in water up to his upper thighs with the horse’s front legs and chest on top of his legs. The horse was lying partially on its side in the water, unable to stand up.
A civilian that stopped prior to firefighters’ arrival had a rope on the horse’s neck trying to coax the horse over to remove weight from the man’s legs. After roughly the third attempt, firemen were able to get the horse’s legs moved just enough for firefighters to pull the man up and out of the water. He was slowly helped to his feet and walked to the ambulance to warm up and be checked out. The man later refused treatment and was not transported to the hospital.
The horse was later able to be helped out of the water under its own power once he was able to get his feet under him.
The man trapped under the horse said the series of events began when the horse did not come up for feeding Sunday morning. He found the horse stuck by the pond. A tree had fallen with a branch that created a ‘V’ shape. One of the horse’s legs was caught between the tree and the branch. The owner tried breaking the branch, freeing the horse. However, the horse then stepped forward, slipped and fell knocking into the owner and resulting in both falling into the pond.
Kell Firefighters were assisted on the scene by United Medical Response and three passersby that had already started helping prior to the fire department’s arrival.
Salem Firemen were initially called for mutual aid assistance with large animal rescue equipment but was later cancelled before arrival once the horse was freed.
