Horse cut free from box after trying to escape through groom door
A horse had to be cut free from a horsebox at the weekend after trying to escape through the groom door.
The 16.2hh Dutch warmblood mare called Dancer became trapped on Sunday, 12 July at 10.12am.
Her owner, Gemma Bower, was driving to Crofton Manor EC in Stubbington, near Fareham when she felt unusual movement coming from the back of the box.
She pulled over and found that Dancer had reared up and managed to get one of her forelegs over the restraining bar inside the horsebox.
The horse then got her other foreleg over the bar, before forcing her head and most of her body through the narrow groom door, before becoming stuck at the pelvis.
She was sedated by a vet before the firefighters used a hydraulic ram to spread the sides of the door apart. Dancer was then freed and led to safety.
She suffered several deep cuts to the head, flanks and hindquarters.
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Crews from Havant and Fareham attended with animal rescue specialist Anton Phillips.
Mr Phillips said: “Dancer is used to being transported and it is not clear what caused her to react in this way. When the owner opened the groom door, Dancer lunged forward seeing the door as a means of escape. Due to the shape of a horse, narrow forequarters but wide pelvis she quickly became severely trapped sustaining numerous cuts and abrasions in her panic.
“Working effectively in partnership with the local vet on the scene, we were able to safely free the horse. This was a very successful rescue and Dancer should make a full recovery.”
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.