PINAL COUNTY, AZ – Fire crews and volunteers spent more than two hours rescuing a horse after it fell into a deep hole Thursday in an area just north of Florence.
CLICK ON THE SLIDESHOW TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE RESCUERural Metro Fire Department spokesman Chuck Fitzgerald said the horse was carrying its owner, David Blackwell, when the horse fell hind-first into the hole near Arizona Farms and Felix roads before 9 a.m.
"We just dropped. It was like the ground just dropped from underneath of us," Blackwell said.
Crews dug a trench in an effort to walk the horse out of the hole.
Crews also used a rope to try and pull the horse out.
When that wasn't successful, crews dug a second trench and were finally able to pull the horse out just before 11 a.m.
"Once she got up and walked out everything was great," Blackwell said. "Then, I had no more worries because she was up and she was walking. That was an excellent sign."
He said the horse, named Sprinkles, has a few cuts and scrapes but is expected to be OK.
