By RON GOWER rgower@tnonline.com
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Ron Gower/TIMES NEWS Members of the Summit Hill Fire Department assist Ronald Ferrence in attempting to comfort Eastern Lady, a horse owned by Lady, who was found lying on her side in her stall off White Bear Drive this morning. About a dozen firefighters responded to the call to help with the horse and managed to get her in an upright position. Unfortunately, the horse passed away during the rescue attempt. |
The Summit Hill Fire Department responded to a unique call this morning - they were asked to help upright a 1,200 pound horse which fell over in its stall.
Nearly a dozen members of the department worked more than an hour in an effort to help the horse to its feet. They succeeded in getting the horse to an upright position on its front knees. For awhile, the horse gamely assisted them, making several efforts to rise. At one point the horse even ate some straw.
Sadly, though, the 27-year-old horse passed away before the rescue effort could be completed.
A veterinarian from Lehigh County arrived on the scene. When the horse lost consciousness, the vet administered CPR but was unable to revive the black-and-white mare.
The horse is owned by Ronald and Katherine Ferrence. It's one of two horses housed in a stable in a corral along East White Bear Drive in Summit Hill.
Katherine said when she and her husband arrived at the stable before 6 a.m., they found the horse, whose name is Eastern Lady, lying on its side.
The horse is a descendent of Man o' War, considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred race horses of all time. During his career just after World War I, the horse from Kentucky won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses.
According to Katherine, Eastern Lady was a great, great granddaughter of Man o' War.
Shawn Hoben, Summit Hill Fire Chief, said this is the first time the department had responded to a horse rescue. He was on his cell phone during much of the duration of the rescue effort, speaking to other horse owners and animal professionals seeking advice on the best procedures to help the distressed animal. Among the people he spoke with for advice was Dr. Mary Lombardi of the Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital.
Several firefighters, as well as Ronald Ferrence, worked together and put straps around the body of the horse and tried lifting it to its feet. They put packages of sawdust under the animal's head, as advised by the professionals they spoke with.
They succeeded in getting the horse from its side onto an upright position, although Eastern Lady never fully got onto her legs. Although Eastern Lady made a few attempts herself to rise, she just didn't seem to have the strength.
Also assisting the firefighters was Lori Leinhard, Summit Hill Police Officer and official state animal officer in Carbon County.
Leinhard said this was the second time she responded to a call involving a horse. The other time was as animal officer for a call of a horse running at large in Mahoning Township.
In the Mahoning incident, the owner of the horse had passed away and efforts to corral the horse failed. That horse eventually came to Leinhard, and a new home was found for the animal.