Horse Weighs 1,700 lbs. Breaks Through Ice, Needs 12 Firemen to Rescue

By James Russo January 8, 2018 at 4:02pm

Police and firefighters in Denver had to act quickly to save the life of a horse that had fallen through the ice. The massive horse fell through a frozen pond while wandering around its owner’s ranch.

The horse is a Clydesdale, which is the same kind of horse used for the iconic Budweiser commercials.

Clydesdales can grow to be over 6 feet tall and weigh around 1,700 – 2,200 pounds.

Since the ice on the pond was so thin, the horse had no chance of making it across. It spent an hour in the freezing-cold water before rescuers made it to the scene.

By the time police and firefighters came to the horse’s aid, it was standing in six to eight feet of freezing water.

Firefighter Rusty Booth waded through the broken ice to get to where the horse was standing.

Booth put a halter on the horse so crews could start to pull it free. Meanwhile, around six other officers and firefighters got to work breaking the ice around the stranded animal, Elbert County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Dickey told reporters.

Once they were in place, the team of rescuers started to turn the horse and guide it out of the ice from its original path.

After a couple tugs, the Clydesdale was able to pull its front legs free.

The hind legs took a bit more effort, but after a strong pull, the horse wrenched itself free from the icy water.

It stumbled as it came to shore, but didn’t fall.

“It’s a darn big horse when you’re standing next to it,” Dickey told reporters. He was the first to greet the horse when it came out of the icy pond.

Dickey also told reporters that the owners of the ranch are taking precautions so that this type of accident won’t happen again. Their first priority is to build a fence around the pond.

The Clydesdale, which was later revealed to be named Seamus, was extremely thankful for the rescue.

So thankful, in fact, that he sent the police and firefighters a batch of his famous chocolate chip cookies.

“Thanks for pulling my gigantic behind out of the pond – Love Seamus,” the card read. Thankfully, Seamus didn’t sustain any injuries through this ordeal.

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