Horse hoisted from danger by firemen and a handy JCB

A horse has had a lucky escape after falling into a treacherous river on wasteland in Llanelli, Dyfed.

The Welsh cob fell into a tributary of the river Loughour last Monday, 24 May.

Ricky Woodhead, station manager at Llanelli Fire Station said: “The horse had fallen into a tributary to the river Loughour, with very, very steep 2-metre banks.

“It’s a small river running across wasteland on the site of an old tinworks, so it’s full of industrial waste.”

Mr Woodhead found the horse standing a concrete plinth, surrounded by sharp-edged scrap metal. No one knows how the horse fell in.

“He was very lucky not to have hurt himself falling,” said the station manager.

Rescuers had hoped to lead the horse up or downstream, but that was impossible due to the tangle of twisted metal choking the stream in both directions. Neither did the fire station have any equipment to lift the horse.

“Luckily,” said Mr Woodhead, “there was a building site nearby with a JCB with an extendible lifter. Using the JCB and our own strops and lines, we hoisted the horse up and out of the river.”

The horse remained calm throughout the rescue, and was uninjured.

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