Missing horse found in a well !

[babycham]

A horse which disappeared from a West Yorkshire riding stables was rescued three days later after being found at the bottom of a 10ft well.

Eight-year-old Steffi was pulled out of the hole in the Shibden Valley near Halifax in a three-hour operation involving firemen, the RSPCA and a vet.

Stable girl Katie Clegg, 16, raised the alarm last Saturday when she could not find the horse in its field.

The mare was found on Tuesday by a dog walker, having suffered no injuries.

It is believed that a covering of plants which had hidden the well opening in the field was washed away in recent heavy rains and Steffi fell 10ft into the hole.

Tears of joy

"On Saturday I went down to see her in the field and she was nowhere to be seen," said stable girl Katie Clegg.

"We all trekked around looking for her for on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. No-one knew what had happened to her, whether she'd been stolen or what."

When she heard that Steffi had been found at the bottom of a hole in the field she said could hardly believe it.

"We had all searched that field so many times but nobody saw it. I think it was the dog that somehow found her.

"As soon as I saw her down the hole I just burst out crying, I'd missed her so much."

The horse was sedated before being pulled out in a harness.

It was checked out at a nearby equine clinic but appears to have come to no physical harm.

"They thought she might have broken her leg or pelvis but she was just stiff from being stood down there so long," said Miss Clegg.

[mags]

erm speechless lolAnd I no I shouldnt laugh, poor poor horse must have been so scared. But a well???Thats got to be the strangest one iv heard for a good while

[pinkpony]

Blimey! Lucky lucky horse! What a blummin shock! Sounds like a pony adventure book I once read when I was a kid!

[babycham]

Horses never cease to amaze us lol

[cbc]

Glad the poor mare was ok after that experience

[wally]

I lost a foal in the septic tank when she was 2 weeks old.

Luckily I have a rugby playing OH who took the role of the firebrigade single handed!

I can tell you it's very scary finding them in such a predicament......at least theirs was a well and they didn't have the smell to deal with for about 3 days afterwards!

[jes]

OMG, I know this pony, I used to work at the riding school she's from. Poor Steffi, so glad she's ok.

Me and a friend were hacking in the Shibden Valley on Saturday and someone asked us to look out for one of the RS ponies that had gone missing, obviously we didn't see her. What a lucky girl.

[Diane D]

I know this pony too from the RS I used to loan a horse from. So glad she is okay. That is the second one in a smilar area that has gone down a well. The other one sadly did not survive as the well was too deep. Good news about Steffi. What a lucky girl she is.

[rj]

Mmm; I was remembering the other one too.
It is SOOO important that people search the area carefully if their horse goes missing, not just assume stolen and stop looking. That other horse may have survived if found sooner.
Glad this one is OK.