HOUSTON – A horse survived a 20-foot fall into a concrete well in southwest Houston.
Houston SPCA officials said the horse wandered away from home and got trapped in a well under construction on South Post Oak near Anderson Road Sunday night.
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The horse was standing in 4 to 5 feet of murky water and was scared, investigators said.
Chief Cruelty Investigator and rescuer Charles Jantzen said that water saved the horse's life.
"The water, fortunately, caused the horse not to break any legs or cause any serious injuries, as it broke the horse's fall," Jantzen said.
Jantzen lowered himself into the well, calmed the horse down and put a harness around it, officials said.
A forklift pulled the 1,100-pound horse out.
The rescue took about 40 minutes, officials said.
"Toward the end of the rescue, you could tell the animal was severely depleted of its body core temperature," Jantzen said. "We were starting to have to hold its head up to keep it from drowning."
The horse suffered cuts and bruises. He was reunited with his owner.