How to get a horse unstuck from a water trough.

This from my donkey list. I think this is a problem most of us didn't even think of worrying about. But just in case you should need a solution to it sometime, see below.

About a month ago, we got a new horse in at the ranch. Her owner had mentioned to us that she liked water, but we had no idea she liked it quite so much...

We're not quite sure how she got herself into this situation, whether she decided to get into the water trough, or was chased in by another horse.


Whatever the circumstance, she must have slipped and tried to catch herself, caught her leg in the fence, and ended up here.

Laura, in the blue, is trying to steady Mercedes, as the vet, in green, sedates her for safety reasons.


The reason she was so stuck is that on her way down, she'd put her hoof between the sucker rod and the water trough, and then slipped her leg under the cage that protected the float that filled that trough.

We had to call in backup - Dave came home from work just in time, and with the help of borrowed power tools, cut the sucker rod fence to free her hoof.


Once her hoof was free, her leg was still pinned between the sucker rod cage, and the water trough, and while it appears it could have been pulled out with a little bit of work, no such luck without breaking her leg.

So Dave hacked away at the next piece of sucker rod that was in the way, and then used a piece of pipe to pry the sucker rod up away from her leg).


Finally, her leg was free! Now, how the heck do you get a sedated draft horse out of a round water trough? Bring in the big guns!








After about 30 minutes of panic, phone calls, and hard work, Mercedes' pool party came to an end.

She walked away with no broken bones or skin, just a little bit sore, a little but mucky and stinky from the silt (and fish, who sadly didn't survive the ordeal) in the water trough, and still happily drunk from the sedatives.