LOXAHATCHEE GROVES, Florida — Members of Palm Beach County Fire Rescue spent part of their Sunday rescuing a trapped horse from a deep canal.
The horse's owner, Darcy Murray, said she and her family believe the horse, Alice, was spooked by something, ran, and somehow wound up in the canal.
Her adult son, Aiden, was the only one in their Loxahatchee Groves home when Alice got loose.
A neighbor knocked on the door to let him know his horse was in the canal.
“No shoes on, I ran out there and, lo and behold, our horse was neck deep in the canal water,” Aiden said.
Aiden said Alice is 28 years old and arthritic.
He knew there was no way she’d be able to climb out on her own.
But he also saw that she was breathing fine and not panicking, so he settled in to wait for Fire Rescue to arrive.
“I was just watching her to make sure she didn’t dip her head under water, or she wasn’t in too much pain or anything like that,” Aiden said.
Once firefighters arrived, they consulted with the Murrays to figure out the best way to get Alice to safety.
In the end, they decided to sedate the horse and then use some rope and a lot of muscle to pull her out.
Alice is back in her barn now having only suffered a few scrapes and scratches.
The Murrays say this is the first time she’s ever done something like this.
They hope it’s the last.
“We’ve known her since she was born, so she’s very important to our family,” Aiden said. “And I’m glad that things turned out all right in the end.”
