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HOOPER, Weber County β Animal control officers and neighbors in Weber County had their hands full in Hooper Monday after a horse fell into an 8-foot hole that opened up during a rainstorm.
Weber County animal services Lt. Chad Ferrin said neighbors had heavy-duty machinery and officers had straps to carefully hoist the horse out of the hole.
βYou look at those pictures, you think βhow are we going to do this!β And weβve got to do it!β Ferrin said. βWeβve just got to get it done.β
Fortunately, Ferrin said the plan worked and βBrutusβ made it out of the hole uninjured, even though his neck was pinned to one side in the hole and he didnβt have much room to move.
The horse seemed to be in good spirits in his ownerβs barn Tuesday afternoon.
βYou could tell he just was relaxed that, βOK, I can stand, Iβm back with my owner and everythingβs OK now,β β officer Christopher Walker recalled.
Ferrin said it appeared the hole was really a hollowed out, 6-foot-wide corrugated pipe that a previous property owner had used to collect irrigation water.
Unknown to the current owner, Ferrin said the prior owner covered the area over with plywood and sand.
He remained calm the whole time. I think he knew what was going on and tried to offer as much help as he could.
–Weber County animal services Lt. Chad Ferrin
βWith all the recent rain and stuff weβve had, it saturated the ground, caused the boards to become weak and as the horse stood here at the gate, must have collapsed the wood underneath him,β Ferrin theorized.
Ferrin said Brutus could have been βtorn upβ if he had struggled, but Walker and others were able to keep the horse relatively calm through the ordeal.
βHe remained calm the whole time,β Ferrin said. βI think he knew what was going on and tried to offer as much help as he could.β
