NEW LONDON, N.H.
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A New London community came together Wednesday to help save a horse that had fallen into a ditch and could not get out.
Cheryl Fitzgerald said she came home to find her 30-year-old horse, Rocket, stuck in a ditch that was dug outside of her home.
"I walked to the edge of the house and I saw his head come out of the ditch, so I knew he had fallen in the hole," Fitzgerald said.
Within minutes, 25 firefighters, a local veterinarian and neighbors arrived to help.
"We found a horse that was on his side, almost on his back, with the owner trying to keep the head up," New London Fire Department Chief Jason Lyon said.
Fitzgerald said that she was just trying to help keep the scared horse breathing.
"I did not want him to die like that in the mud in a ditch," she said.
Rescue workers tried three times to help Rocket stand up, but they could not get the horse up on its feet.
After those tries, Fitzgerald said that she was concerned that it was too much for the horse and that it might be time to stop.
"Finally, I just said, 'I want them to stop. We're going to put him to sleep because I can't take it anymore,' and the vet came over and she said, 'Let me try one more time'," Fitzgerald said.
The fire department then rigged a harness to Rocket, and an excavator lifted the horse onto his hooves.
Rescue workers think Rocket was in the ditch about two hours. They said the warm weather helped in the rescue because colder temperatures could have been life-threatening to the horse.
Neighbors built a fence to keep Rocket out of the ditch, and Fitzgerald said that she will not leave Rocket's side while he recovers.
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