"They Rescue Horses, Don't They?"
Hot news From The Hugo Fire Department
HUGO - Little did the members of the Hugo Fire Department know that when they took a short course in "large animal rescue" from Hugo resident Cherie McKenzie of Sundown Horse Farm last spring, they would be putting that knowledge to use within the year.
After a call from Mel-O-Dee Stables about some missing horses on the aft ernoon of Dec. 19, two of which returned to their stalls a few minutes later, the Washington County Sheriff 's Department dispatch put in a call to Hugo firefighter Jodie Guareschi, who serves as the city billing clerk.
"There's a horse stuck in the creek," they asked her, and then, "Can you do this?"
Jodie responded, "I'm going to rescue anything that has fur and big brown eyes!"
Photo by Deb Barnes
At Guareschi's request, the Hugo Fire Department was paged out, and HFD personnel -including a couple of "brawny guys," by Guareschi's account - found Annie the black mare some distance south of the Fable Hill bridge over Clearwater Creek, where Washington County deputies Joe Stoehr, Jeff Larson, and Donovan Bump were waiting.
Annie had fallen through the ice into the thick, black muck at the bottom of the streambed, and then slipped under the unbroken ice so just her head was sticking above the surface of the cold water.
"She was shaking uncontrollably," Guareschi said.
Though the preferred method was to slip a stout strap under Annie's hindquarters, rescue personnel had to work from the front to the back.
"She kept slipping out [of the straps]," Guareschi said. "We broke all the ice all around the edge of where she was, so we could get the strap under her back end; I went through the ice, Marty [Schwartz] went through the ice.
"We gave the biggest tug we possibly could," Guareschi related, "and she came out. "We felt pretty swampy by the time we got back."
The next day, Mel-O-Dee stable manager Steve Hintz said that Annie, a therapeutic horse belonging to the Denny Schwimmer family, was resting comfortably after her ordeal.
Of the Hugo Fire Department, Hintz said simply, "They were brilliant."
Therapeutic horses, selected for their gentle nature, are used with disabled children and adults to inspire confidence, improve balance and coordination, and strengthen muscle tone.
"She didn't kick up any kind of a fight," Guareschi said later, "and she obviously knew we were there to help her.
"Cherie McKenzie gave us the confidence and showed us how to rescue an animal in distress, and we thought, 'We can do this.' And we did!"