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MURRAY — Fire crews rescued a horse from drowning in the Jordan River on Tuesday night after the animal got stuck in the muddy riverbed.
According to Murray City Fire Capt. Russ Jensen, rescue crews were dispatched to an area of the Jordan River near 700 West and 4800 South at around 5:30 p.m. Jensen, who was first to arrive on scene, said that a group had been riding horses when one person decided to take her horse across the river. Due to the mud at the bottom of the river, the horse was not able to cross the river and got stuck.
"The rider was unfamiliar with the river and didn't know how muddy the river bottom was," Jensen said. "In that area of the Jordan River, water doesn't clear often and the sediment settles. This makes the bottom really sticky – almost clay-like."
Jensen said that the rider was able to get to safety while crews worked on rescuing the horse.
"The horse was so exhausted," Jensen said. "It just couldn't get her hooves out of the mud to walk because the combination of her hooves and the mud acted just like a suction cup."
Due to the sheer mass of the horse, crews were not able to lift it, Jensen said. But with the help and expertise of heavy rescue operations from Unified Fire Authority, they ended up using a fire hose as a harness to bring the horse to safety.
"Using a rope wouldn't have been enough to distribute the weight of the horse and would have likely injured it," Jensen said. "The heavy rescue team from Station 117 had experience with situations like these and decided (on) using the hose because it was flat and could distribute the weight better."
Jensen explained that due to both the weight of the horse and the muddy river bottom, crews ended up guiding the horse to an area that had a harder surface so that it could walk to safety. The entire rescue, Jensen said, took between 35 and 40 minutes.
Jensen, who grew up around horses, said that he was so glad that the story had a happy ending.
"When we got there, the horse was struggling and would have drowned if we weren't there to help," he said. "I'm really glad it turned out the way it did."
Jensen said that the rider was treated for mild hypothermia, but that both the rider and horse experienced no injuries.
