Firefighters rescue horse from mud pit in Orosi

OROSI, Calif. (KFSN) -- A horse is back on level ground, thanks to firefighters who were able to rescue it from a mud pit on Sunday. The animal fell into the deep hole behind a home at Highway 63 and Avenue 412 in Orosi. It was trapped for 13 hours before crews could get it out.

The horse, which weighs about 1,000 pounds, fell into the 14-foot-deep hole contaminated with sewage. It fell in around 3 a.m., belly first. Fortunately, the horse had its head above the muck, but it was too heavy and too far down to get out on its own.

"Poor thing. I didn't realize it was a little horse either, so it looked like a pony," said Meridith Moreno, a neighbor.

Firefighters came to the rescue around 1:30 p.m. They called in a crane and used ladders to get leverage. Two hours later, the horse popped out of the hole. It was covered in sewage and a little lethargic.

"We were able to go ahead and secure the horse with a couple straps underneath his belly and to lift the horse up, and the horse is doing fine," said Mike Green with the Tulare County Fire Department.

Neighbors say the hole has been there for a while. It was covered with wood and surrounded by a chain-link fence. Still, the horse managed to get through it, somehow. And after this rescue, the owner of the horse was told to cover the hole up again, properly.

"It's kind of scary. I'm just glad it wasn't a person, or one of the small kids around here, like mine," said Moreno.

A veterinarian was out there to check on the horse. She said it was a little smelly from the sewage, but other than that, it will be OK.