Horse saved after river fall

RECOVERING: rescued Lucy with co-owner Donna Saunders

Riders to the rescue in battle for Lucy
CHADDERTON firefighters have praised two riding pals who rescued their horse when it fell into a river.

The drama unfolded when Naomi Clough (24) and Natasha Singleton (19) were horseriding along Oozewood Road in Royton.

As they stopped to let a car pass, the bank at the side of the road gave way underneath them, causing Lucy, the 20-year-old former race horse ridden by Natasha, to fall back-end first down a 15ft drop into the freezing water.

In the panic, Naomi’s mare reared up and fell on top of her, while Natasha was clinging to the side of the bank.

The motorist stopped when he realised what had happened and called the emergency services, while his passenger rode the mare back to Hough Farm.

The women rushed into the water to save Lucy. They struggled to keep her head above water as she was stuck in mud.

Naomi, Lucy’s co-owner, said of the incident that happeend on Friday night: “At one point I thought I was going to lose her. We were in there for 30 minutes before help arrived and she kept trying to lie down.

“It was absolutely horrible. I’ve never been so frightened.”

Fire crews from Chadderton and Rochdale helped the two women out of the water before calling a specialist water incident team and a vet to the scene.

Watch manager Reg Haye said: “We used animal slings and manpower to lift the horse out of the water. It was brute force really.

“One of our guys, John Morris, is an ex-stable hand so he knew what to do. It was all very emotional when we got the horse out. The girls hadn’t wanted to leave her as they were worried she might drown.

“She is quite a big horse and they did a brilliant job keeping her head out of the water.”

It took more than an hour for the horse to be pulled up the banking to the safety of a near-by field, where people from Hough Farm, who had come to support the rescue, applauded.

Tom Tonge, of Hough Farm, said: “There were about 30 people helping to get her out.”

Aside from a slight injury to her leg, Lucy made a rapid recovery and was lead back to her stable.

Naomi added: “The horse has cheated death four times now — she’s also fallen through a trailer and survived an injection that paralysed her face. She’s always been a fighter.

“I just can’t thank the firefighters enough, and everyone who helped.”

Naomi suffered an injury to her leg and Natasha suffered shock, but were both treated by paramedics at the scene.