Lacey Fire District 3 was called to the 2000 block of Carpenter Road near Hicks Lake after 9 p.m. last Thursday to rescue a horse named Nanna from the mud.
Deputy fire chief Jennifer Schmidt said the department has handled a number of livestock rescues, but they don't usually take place in the dark.
Schmidt said when crews arrived, Nanna's owners had already been working to free her from the muddied creek bed for more than an hour, after the horse escaped its holding area. Neighbors were also assisting and helped direct traffic once fire crews arrived.
Schmidt said neighbors also offered up their heavy farm equipment for firefighters to use to get Nanna out of the mud, and they did. Still, Schmidt said it took crews an hour and a half to free the horse.
A veterinarian from Olympia Equine Veterinary Services sedated Nanna, and using a tractor as an anchor point, a large animal net, ropes and a 5-1 haul system, the horse was freed from the mud.
Schmidt said nearly as soon as Nanna was upright, she was able to bear her own weight again.
Schmidt said the last crew cleared the scene about midnight. The battalion chief and some crew members went back Friday, Aug. 9, to see Nanna, and she was having a speedy recovery and acting like nothing ever happened.
Schmidt said the battalion chief said he would've liked to be called to the scene to assist the horse earlier. She said if it ever looks like a situation is going to become dangerous for an animal or its rescuers, it's best to call the department right away.
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