A ‘miracle’ horse has been left with minor cuts and grazes after his hind leg fell through a hole in the floor of his lorry and became trapped between the rear wheels.
Small hole
Spencer was on the way to a dressage show when the incident happened. As owner Anne Dance pulled up to the event at Mayhill Stud in Hampshire she checked the CCTV in the rear of the lorry and saw the 17hh Irish Draught go down.
She soon realised his back leg had gone through a small hole in the floor and his foot was stuck between the two rear wheels.
Luckily a vet was competing at the show and she had sedatives in her car and was able to keep Spencer calm while they waited for help to arrive.
Special resources
Firefighters from Droxford, Lyndhurst and Overton stations attended the scene, along with animal rescue advisor Jim Green.
They had to call in special resources to jack the vehicle up before they could remove the wheels.
“Spencer was anaesthetised throughout the rescue, which took about an hour, said Jim. “Once the wheel had been taken off we pulled the horse into sternal recumbency – as if he was sitting up – and his leg rolled out of hole.
“We then put him on a rescue slide and slid him down a track where he was bedded with straw, so he could safely come round from the anaesthetic.”
‘Sound as a pound’
According to Jim this accident highlights the need for lorry floors to be tested as part of their MOT inspection.
“This was a very sound lorry,” said Jim. “However, there was one corner where the owners suspected water was getting in over the last few months, which obviously weakened it.”
Incredibly Spencer is a “sound as a pound” after his terrifying ordeal. He had a touch of colic overnight, but the vet said he has suffered minor cuts and grazes
“Had she been driving when his leg went through the whole he wouldn’t have lived,” said Jim. “When we took the wheel off his hind foot was underneath the other tyre. He’s a miracle horse.”