Mare rescued from ditch by Devon firefighters
A 19-year-old grey mare was rescued from a ditch at Northam near Bideford by members of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service yesterday morning (14 July).
Bideford Group supervising officer, Graham Rooke said: “The grey mare had a young foal and was extremely fatigued from trying to get out on her own.
“We enlisted the help of a digger driver from the golf course next door and then attached the strops to the digger with the cow nets under the horse.
“We managed to lift and pull the horse out to safety.”
He said the mare suffered nothing more serious than a dead leg and was soon reunited with her foal.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.