Fire brigade free pony trapped beneath bridge

A bridge had to be raised by firefighters in Devon on Sunday evening (24 June) after a pony fell from the bridge and became trapped beneath it.

The pony’s owner, Tracey Vickery, called the fire brigade after she found her part-Welsh Section D penned in by two beams on the underside of the wooden bridge in a field by Moor Cottage Farm in Nomansland, near Tiverton.

Tracey told H&H: “It was raining and Flicker had slipped on the bridge’s oak planks, but I’ve no idea how she actually got stuck beneath it. When I found her she was standing – freezing cold and shaking – in the river underneath the bridge.”

She added: “If she had just dropped to her knees or bent her back a bit she could have freed herself, but she’s a bit stubborn.”

A spokesman for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed to H&H: “One fire engine was dispatched from the retained Witheridge Fire Station at 7:30pm, and had returned by 8:10pm.”

The crew lifted the 12-foot bridge from the ground so the 12.2hh pony could walk free. The operation took about 15min.

Tracey said: “Flicker has a tiny cut on her leg but she’s fine now.”

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