Rescuers pull horse from frigid creek. Skillman Vet employs emergency care – Skillman Veterinary Services, Indianapolis, Indiana

Wow, what a day! A huge shout out to the Sugar Creek Township Fire Dept AND the Buck Creek Township Fire Dept for making this rescue at all possible with their equipment, supplies, and manpower. A big thank you also to Dr. Kate Christie, a veterinary internist of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital for being my lifeline and available for consult through this entire process and my technician Emily Nichols who beat me to the call and was able to jump in and started what needed to be done. It truly takes a village with horses and yesterday we were fortunate to have a village with not one but two amazing Emergency depts! Meet Lola, she is a Tennessee walking horse mare in her late 20s. Lola has survived through choke and a very involved corneal infection since Dr. Skillman has been taking care of her. Yesterday morning, Lola did not come up with her pasture mates like she usually does for breakfast. She was nowhere to be found when looking out over the vast field where she resides in Greenfield, IN. The barn owners started walking the fence line and eventually found her fallen and submerged into the creek bed completely soaked from head to tail and exhausted from physically holding her head up to keep from it going underwater and drowning. When she was found the temp was in the low 30s outside. There is no way of knowing how long she had been there, but our guess it was over a few hours. Both of the fire depts were able to physically move her 1000 pound body out of the creek on to dryer land. When Dr. Skillman arrived Lola was shaking violently trying to conserve the heat left in her body. Her rectal temp was registering 91 degrees F (normal for a horse is similar to humans between 98-100 degrees F). Her heart rate was 5x what her normal resting heart rate should be. She was physically exhausted from the last hours, and we were all discouraged if she may have any life in her..We hooked up an IV and started running fluids with electrolytes as well as administered anti inflammatories. We knew we would have to get her body temp up for her to be able to help us in getting back up so we used towels, blankets, heat packs, hay, and finally a generator run salamander to get her body temp up. Slowly her body temp started to climb and as it did she became brighter. Each time we took a heat source away though her temp would drop and her temperament would change. We gave her some time and sun while the 10 liters of electrolyte IV fluids ran and her temp started climbing again. Lola even started to eat some hay and grain offered to her. Lola showing signs of an appetite gave us all some hope!Since she was found on her right side we knew the right hind would show us the most weakness when trying to lift her. From what she could examine since some of Lola’s legs were tucked under her Dr. Skillman did not believe any legs were broken. We were able to place straps under Lola and raise her with the backhoe with the help of the fire department. At first Lola just hung from the makeshift sling and was not making an effort to stand, but over the next 10 minutes she slowly started to bear weight on all four limbs. She even started to eat hay while bearing all of her own weight. It was time for us to remove the straps and get her back to her warm barn.With down horses the next 24 hours are always crucial, please pray and cross your fingers for a smooth recovery for Lola! So far, she’s holding steady like the champ she is. These don’t always end as happy as this one so had to share! We could not have gotten her up without the manpower we were provided so generously from Greenfields emergency responders.

Greenfield Reporter: Original Artic le By Kristy Deer -December 7, 2021

HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA — Lola, a Tennessee Walking Horse in her late 20s, is lucky to be alive.

First-responders from the Sugar Creek and Buck Creek Township fire departments helped rescue the mare last week after she’d fallen into Sugar Creek and couldn’t get up. The creek runs through a pasture on private property in the 1000 block of North County Road 200W where the horse’s owners board their two horses.

Pictured: Sugar Creek and Buck Creek Township firefighters helped save Lola. Their first goal was getting her out of the cold water. Submitted photos
When rescuers lifted Lola with the help of a sling secured to a tractor, it took several minutes for her to adjust, but she was finally able to stand on her own.

When Lola didn’t come up with her pasture mates, like she usually does for breakfast, the people at the barn where Lola stays knew something was amiss. They immediately started walking the fence line looking for Lola and eventually found her fallen and submerged in the creek bed soaked from head to tail. They said she was exhausted from holding her head up to keep from it going underwater and drowning.

When she was found on Tuesday morning, Nov. 30, the temperature was in the low 30s.

The firefighters, using specialized equipment, were finally able to pull the 1,000-pound horse out of the water, but the danger was not over.

Veterinarian Dr. Natalie Skillman arrived to help Lola, who was shaking violently from the loss of body heat.

Skillman said the horse’s body temperature was registering 91 degrees when Lola was pulled from the water. Normal temperature for a horse is similar to that for humans, between 98 and 100 degrees. Her heart rate was five times what her normal resting heart rate should be.

The horse was hooked up an IV, and her rescuers worked quickly with towels, blankets, heat packs and hay to get her warm.

Firefighters eventually placed straps under Lola so they could raise her using hydraulics from a tractor. At first, Lola just hung from the makeshift sling and was not making an effort to stand, but over the next 10 minutes she slowly started to bear weight on all four limbs. She even started to eat hay while bearing all of her own weight.

Skillman posted about the experience on her Facebook page and thanked the firefighters for helping save Lola.

Jennifer Cross, Lola’s owner, commented on Skillman’s post about the incident, thanking everyone involved, including the vet.

“Words cannot describe the gratitude I feel toward all the wonderful and skilled people who participated in the rescue of my beloved Lola,” Cross said. “Pulling her from that shallow, watery grave and offering her warmth, comfort and expert treatment, could only be accomplished by a team of amazing and compassionate (and strong!) individuals. The world needs more people like them.”

On Sunday, Dec. 5, Cross said Lola seems to be fully recovered.

“She’s back to being the ‘old gray mare,’ who loves to graze and hang out with her horse mates,” Cross said.