Horse is winched out of a well after getting trapped in metre wide hole

Foxy, a 12-year-old Irish Sport horse had to be pulled to safety in a harness upside down after she became stuck in water inside a well near Hinckley in Leicestershire.

Two fire crews were called to help the horse after she was heard crying for help after falling through a thin covering of wood over the well.

Rescuers found her with just her head and front knees poking out and it was unclear how many hours the animal had been stuck for.

Mark Edwards, from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue's Technical Rescue Team said: 'Rescuing Foxy was out of the ordinary.

'We'd never seen anything like this before.

'It's not a situation that we envisage, so you can't train for it.

'You'd never think a horse could get into that position in the first place.

'When we got there we could only see her head, neck and front knees - everything else was submerged.'

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue's Animal Rescue team were also called and helped secure a around the front of her body so she could be slowly winched out of the well.

As the rescue party weren't sure of the success of the operation, they had to request a police marksman for the worst case scenario.

This was not necessary but in the process of being freed the back of one of Foxy's knees was cut and fractured and dirty water seeped into the wound.

This led to a joint infection, and she required eight weeks of intensive care and treatment at Rossdales Equine Hospital.

(dailymail.co.uk)