By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer

    Brandon Twp.– Horses can get themselves into trouble, but a recent emergency presented a horse in deep, deep trouble.

The horse was stuck in a pond, in water up to her neck.

“Horses can get themselves in sticky predicaments, they don’t always do what is smartest, but I’ve never seen anything so dramatic,” said Dr. Crystal DeWitt, a vet at Don Ryker DVM and Associates for the past five years.

DeWitt was among the many people who came to the horse’s rescue April 7 at the Ervin family home in the 6200 block of Oak Hill Road, including Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Brandon firefighters, Michigan State Police and a tow truck driver.

A friend had come to visit Nathan Ervin, 16, and Lacey, a 14-year-old quarter horse/Percheron mix, came to the fence to greet him.

About 10 minutes later, Ervin and his friend went outside to retrieve a screwdriver, and heard neighing, but couldn’t see Lacey. They found her in the pond.

The horse had apparently slipped down a steep embankment and was now stuck in mud, unable to escape frigid water up to her head.

“We flipped out and sprinted to the house and I called my mom and she said, ‘Call 9-1-1,’” recalls Ervin.

“I wasn’t optimistic, I thought she wasn’t going to make it. It was snowing and freezing outside, her eyes were blood shot.”

An adult friend of the family arrived first, followed a minute later by the first police officer and then firefighters. Seconds later, Ervin said, a huge train of trucks and cars were pulling into the family’s driveway.

Paul Vassall, a firefighter and horse owner, was among the responders.

“Two of our guys put on suits for ice rescue— the water was cold and we tried different methods to get the mare out, we didn’t want to injure her,” he said. “She was so exhausted she was hardly moving because the water was so cold, probably in the mid-30s.”

Still, their efforts were thwarted by a combination of problems— not only the deteriorating condition of the horse, but also the steepness of the embankment and obstacles including stumps and other entanglements.

Lacey was in the water for nearly an hour when Alex Hackman, a Byers tow truck driver, arrived, called to the scene by police.

A strap was maneuvered around the horse, then attached to the tow cable. With guidance from the veterinarian since he couldn’t see the horse, Hackman used his truck to pull the 1,100-pound horse from the water and up to higher ground.

“To me, it seemed like a minute, maybe a minute and a half, I was just focused on getting her out,” said Hackman, who owns two horses himself and has been a tow truck driver for 16 years. “I was excited to help, but hopefully this is once in a lifetime.”

Vassall said responders got the horse to stand, but they still had a battle to fight— getting the animal to a barn roughly 200-300 feet away.

“She was shaking so bad, her knees were knocking together,” he said. “She couldn’t walk she was so cold.”

Lacey was hypothermic. DeWitt knew they had to get her safely to the warm, dry barn as quickly as possible. The animal, whose muscles were rigid from cold, was surrounded by at least five individuals guiding her to the barn and not allowing her to go into a “splits” position which could have resulted in an ultimately fatal injury.

They made it to the barn. The first attempt to gain a temperature reading failed, as her temperature did not even register 90 degrees, the lowest temp on the thermometer. DeWitt gave Lacey warmed IV fluids and medications to alleviate any pain and relax her. Her caregivers covered her in warm blankets, continually switching out with more warm blankets and food was offered once she was alert enough, after roughly 30 minutes.

Her temperature was at 94.4 degrees by the time DeWitt had to leave on an emergency call to a horse with colic, and Lacey was well on her way to making what would be a full recovery.

“It was quite rewarding to see her do so well in the end and the community come together the way they did to get her out of there,” said DeWitt, adding that if horses are allowed access to ponds or lakes, it is important to make sure the embankments are not too steep.

The Ervin family was very thankful to all who helped save Lacey.

“It was crazy they got her out,” said Nathan. “I am insanely grateful… She’s back to normal.”