Lucky escape for pony after it is rescued from river by firefighters

A horse had to be rescued after falling into a river in Fenstanton last Sunday.

The pony was discovered by a member of the public, stuck in the river which runs through a field near to Chequer Street and the RSPCA was called to the scene.

RSPCA deputy chief inspector Jon Knight said: “The poor pony had fallen into the water and the eight foot river banks were far too steep for her to have climbed out on her own.

“With the water already up to her belly, she could have been in real danger had there been more rainfall.”

It was unclear at this point who owned the pony, so deputy chief inspector Knight left nothing to chance and contacted Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, and a team of firefighters arrived at the scene.

He added: “She was a lovely, friendly pony, but she was clearly getting chilly and although calm, she was exhausted. We had to work quickly. We also called a vet out to keep an eye on the pony while we began the rescue.

“Luckily, a local farmer kindly arrived with his digger to dig a sloping channel in the river bank, giving us a clear exit to carefully lead the pony up and out to safety. She was checked over by the vet and thankfully was unharmed, so we released her back into the field to her herd.

Deputy chief inspector Knight added: “Anyone with experience of horses knows that these things can occasionally happen, and this incident serves as a good reminder of the importance of regularly checking on your animals. If this horse hadn’t been spotted, she could have been stuck for days and become very unwell. We were grateful for the assistance of the fire service with this incident.”

DCI Knight managed to contact the pony’s owner to let them know about the rescue.