Father and horse rescued from ice

A dad and a family horse were rescued from a frozen lake in Wakefield last Tuesday. Nigel Selby a father of six was out walking with his horse when he let go of the reins to find his horse trotting towards the middle of a Wintersett Reservoir. Once the horse had made it to the middle the ice could not take the added weight causing the animal to plunge into the ice waters.

At this point Mr Selby dialled 999 alerting emergency services while rushing back to his house to gather rope and stepladders. He then laid the stepladders out across the ice and crawling across them on his stomach he tied the rope around the horse in order to stop its head from going below the water.

Mr Selby said: I tried breaking the ice with the stepladders. My adrenalin was pumping. It was a stupid thing going for the horse but I had to do it, he's an ex-racehorse and a family pet who belongs to my 10-year-old daughter, Abby. She wouldn't have forgiven me."

Shortly after emergency crews arrive to find both Mr Selby and the horse in the water. Using specialist tools they managed to break through the ice and free the pair from the water. They wrapped the horse in blankets and kept it moving to encourage blood flow and to increase its temperature.

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January 18^th 2010

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