What’s the best thank you for saving a life?
Sally Walker, whose horse was freed from a dangerous situation by determined rescuers, decided she wanted to do something that could help many more large animals in trouble. Her gratitude is reflected in a GoFundMe she started to buy specialized equipment for making rescue easier and more effective.
The drama began when her 27-year-old Arabian/warmblood-cross gelding, Teddy, was grazing peacefully at the edge of a pond in his pasture at Heronwood Farm in Bedminster, N.J., last November. The pond was lower than usual because of autumn’s drought conditions, and he wound up stuck in the mud at its edges, unable to move back to solid ground.
Teddy during the rescue process; the conditions were very difficult. (Photo courtesy Sally Walker)
Farm owner Rachel Rosenthal Bellard rushed over to the pasture Teddy had used without incident for 15 years. She found he was up to his chest in the muck.
“I tried to rouse him,” she recalled, but “he made an effort and then plopped down.”
She sought help, realizing the horse couldn’t get out on his own, and that rigging a tractor to pull him out herself wouldn’t work.
“I called 911 immediately and I think if I did anything right, that was it,” Rachel recounted.
“I had no idea the response that was gong to come when I dialed 911.”
The police arrived quickly, along with her neighbor Tom Lynch, a member of the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire department. Bedminster Township sent over a backhoe.
“Within 20 minutes, there were 43 volunteers here, I had eight firetrucks from different departments parked on my driveway,” Rachel said.
Then neighboring Hunterdon County’s Technical Rescue Task Force was called in.
“Those guys were the ones who really knew what to do,” said Rachel.
Standing by her horse’s head to comfort him, Sally recalled, “It looked like he had just sunk. It was almost like he went down in quicksand. He was well and truly stuck.”
She knows her presence helped reassure him, and offered advice for anyone who finds their horse in a difficult situation.
“My words of wisdom are, don’t underestimate how your horse knows and trusts you, and your presence is critical.”
She was thankful for the presence of Alex Eristavi of the Somerset County Emergency Training Academy, who stayed with her and “kept reminding me that Teddy knew I was there.”
Rachel said, “Alex was the guy who was telling everybody what to do, he was calming Sally.” She noted with a smile, “It was like he’d done this before.”
Teddy was covered with blankets as rescuers worked on that chilly day. While he looked okay from the surface, the concern was what couldn’t be seen below the waterline.
“Nobody would say it out loud, but all I could think of was, `Did he have a broken leg?’ ” Rachel recalled.
The rescuers put large flat hoses behind Teddy’s elbows and in front of his stifles, then set up an A-frame and used a hand winch to very slowly lift him out.
Formerly an eventing mount for Doug Payne, Teddy has been owned for 15 years by Sally, an amateur rider who had competed with him in the low-level jumpers and called him “the love of my life.” She said he is “the horse everybody wants to go on the trail with, because he reacts to nothing.”
Standing by as Teddy finally was lifted out, she acknowledged being “very scared, because of his age and the circumstances.”
Once extricated, her horse scrambled, was able to stand for a moment and then lay down, exhausted, cold and in shock. He lay there for a couple of minutes until, after being encouraged, he finally got up. and walked to the barn, where his legs were sprayed with warm water, while a kerosene heater raised the temperature. He spent a few days recovering at Running S Equine Veterinary Services before coming home, where he is awaiting his next trail ride when the weather cooperates.
If rescuers had not been on the scene, Teddy’s fate “would have been much bleaker,” according to veterinarian Travis Bowers of Running S, who consulted with the rescue team.
“It wasn’t just that he was stuck in a pond; it was very deep. There was a lot of thought and equipment that went into removing him from the mud without causing too much suction damage. It was very crucial that we had all the equipment that they brought.”
Without that, it would have become much more of an extreme emergency situation. but because they were there so quickly …without the crews that did show up, I’m not sure it would have been accomplished. It was very well put together.”
While the improvised hose tubing was wide enough so it didn’t cause a lot of pressure, Travis noted, “when you’re trying to pick up a 1,000-pound plus animal on a hoist set-up, you do worry about too much pressure on their internal organs, so a sling would distribute the weight better. ”
This image, courtesy of the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Department, shows how the hose was used, and why the sling sought through the GoFundMe would be better suited to the job.
Public Safety Director/Hunterdon County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Brayden Fahey said one of the pieces of equipment being sought through Sally’s GoFundMe is a sling that would integrate with existing technical rescue equipment. It is specifically designed for horses and costs $3,112.
Situations where such a sling is needed for rescues is “pretty common, at least in Hunterdon” where there is a lot of agriculture. “We have maybe half a dozen of these (calls) a year,” Brayden said.
Having the right gear “insures that we’re doing it in the safest manner possible, with equipment that’s specifically intended for that purpose,” he noted.
The other piece of equipment sought through the GoFundMe is a large animal relocator sked that costs $2,819.
“We have those for humans,” said Brayden, explaining it is “a rigid piece of plastic. We can package someone in and slide them a distance.”
It’s tailored for large animals, so they can be moved across the ground without lifting them.
Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Chief Jason Groendyk noted, “The coordination between the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Department and the mutual aid departments that were requested with both Somerset and Hunterdon County Office of Emergency Management, shows how volunteers in this area are committed to training and supporting their communities.”
He mentioned that members of his department last year took a class on large animal rescue. Other agencies responding included the Peapack and Gladstone Fire Department, Flemington Rescue, Whitehouse Rescue and South Branch Fire and Rescue.
In the wake of what happened at her facility, Rachel suggested farm owners pay attention to the water resources on their property, if animals have access to them. For her part, she is now fencing in the pond.
Rachel expressed her gratitude for the rescuers, saying she is thankful “for living in a community where people come. If I was out in the middle of nowhere, we would have lost this horse.”
“I had no idea the response that was gong to come when I dialed 911. Everyone who came stayed until the end. They were learning and helping any way they could. It was an amazing thing to see. Most of the volunteers were not horse people, they were just wanting to help.”
A month after his trauma, Teddy was back to his old self for the holidays. (Photo courtesy Sally Walker).
As Sally noted, “We are so incredibly lucky to have this kind of service in New Jersey. There are so many different incidents that could happen.
“And you never know,” she pointed out.
When it comes to needing help, “one day it could be you.”