Horse rescued after trapping all four legs in Pendle fence (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Horse rescued after trapping all four legs in Pendle fence

9:03am Friday 18th March 2011 in Reedley By David Watkinson, Deputy news editor

A HORSE had to be rescued after trapping all four legs in a metal fence near a railway line last night.

Specialist fire crews spent an hour working on the two-year-old horse but as she was freed she was spooked and inadvertently trapped her two hind legs again.

Watch manger at Nelson fire station Gary Ibbitson said the horse was lying on its side in some discomfort with all four legs trapped.

The specialist officers had to walk around half a mile to get to the animal, which was stuck off Robinson Lane, Reedley.

Mr Ibbitson said: ”As we walked along the path we could see that the horse was well and truly trapped, with all four legs through the metal slats of the fence.

“I don’t know how it got there but it was on its side and had suffered a lot of superficial cuts.

“We decided to remove the metal fence slats to free her legs.

“We had to be very careful because we were working very close to the horses hooves. It was quite a precarious situation.

“As we freed all of her legs something spooked her and she got her two hind legs trapped again, which meant we had to start again and removed more fence panels.”

The rescue took over an hour, after beginning at 9.30pm last night.