It was two years ago this February that our horse, Queue, broke through the ice and fell into the pond. Cathy and I were so lucky about many things that day.

We have had horses on our property for 17 years, and never has a horse gone onto the frozen pond. I suppose they know the pond is there from summertime, and know not to go onto it if it freezes. Until two winters ago….

The weather was very cold that year, and the pond froze over in late January and stayed that way. In early February, one of our three year olds, Queue, who we foaled and raised here, was returning from six months of training at another farm. We were in a hurry to get him home, as there was a minor snowstorm coming.

Sure enough, it snowed about six inches the night of Queue’s return. Enough to make it pretty, but not enough to cause any problems. The next morning, after feeding the horses, we put them out in their pasture and returned to the house.  

A few hours passed, and we decided to go for a walk and enjoy the snow. Up the driveway we went, turned right onto the road, and then turned right again onto Swains Road, which borders our property. As we were walking along, Cathy said “Huh, what’s that out on the pond?” I looked, and at the same time we both realized it wasn’t something on the pond, but a horse’s head appearing above the ice. Oh my God….

We both raced down the road, into the field, and crossed the dike by the pond. Queue had wandered fifteen or twenty feet onto the pond and broke through the ice. Only his head and neck were above the water. He was alert, and wasn’t panicking, but he was frothing.

I tossed my cell phone to Cath and told her to call for help. She called a neighbor and the vet. In the meantime, I ran to the barn where I found a halter and long lead line. Next, I went into the tool shed, and amazingly, the sledge hammer was exactly where it was suppose to be. I grabbed it and ran back to the pond.

At the pond, I worked my way onto the ice. I got out to Queue, put the halter on, and walked the lead back to Cathy. Then, I went back on the ice with the sledge, and started pounding on the ice to break it up. The ice was two inches thick but adrenalin does amazing things. WHACK! Crack…..WHACK! Crack….WHACK! Ice breaking…. Slowly I made progress and worked back to shore. Unfortunately, the closer I got to shore, the thicker the ice became.

Suddenly, either I slipped, or the ice broke under me, and I plunged into the water. I remember thinking, as the water closed over my head, “whatever you do, don’t let go of the damned sledge hammer…”. A bit of a counterintuitive thought, but I knew without the sledge, we were in serious trouble. I was able to stand up and the water wasn’t quite chest high. I pulled myself out, and continued to pound on the ice with the sledge.

About this time, our neighbor, Kevin arrived (Thanks Kevin!). After another five or ten minutes of breaking the ice, we were able to get Queue to walk out of the pond. He was shivering violently and frothing. We went back to the barn, where we put him in a stall and took his horse blankets off. My fingers were starting to not work so well at this point. As we got the blankets off, Cathy and Kevin started drying him with towels, and I ran to the house to get more towels and blankets, and to change into dry clothes. At the house, I couldn’t get my fingers to untie my boots, so I grabbed a knife, and sliced the laces. I got the boots off and finally was able to change into dry clothes. I found more towels and blankets, and ran back to the barn.

Cathy and Kevin had Queue mostly dried off. We finished that up, and then put dry horse blankets on him, and started walking him around. We were concerned about shock setting in, or that he would colic, and wanted to get him moving. We also started giving him some hay to eat. About this time the vet showed up (Thank you Old Waterloo – You folks are great!). Queue had quit shivering and seemed to be doing OK. The vet said give him more hay, as that would also warm him. The vet took his temperature, and it was several degrees below normal, but not bad.

It turned out that Cathy and I had done everything about as well as we could, under the circumstances, except we should have given him more hay earlier. Queue appeared to be out of danger. The vet told us what to do as we continued to monitor him, and then left. Kevin left as well.

We watched him that afternoon and evening. He was drinking water, and eating, and his temperature was almost back to normal. That night, as we sat in the family room by a fire, Cathy turned to me and said “Well, I guess we’re real horse people now”.

                                                                                

                                                                         Addendum 

One of the things we learned from our vet that day is that The Little Fork, Va Volunteer Fire Department also has a Large Animal Rescue Team that is equipped to do all sorts of large animal rescue. In fact, they are are currently the only volunteer unit in Virginia that specializes in technical rescues of horses and cows. If we’d known that at the time, we would have called them, but they are about a half hour away. If we had waited, I’m not sure Queue would have made it, but it’s certainly good to know for the future. Their numbers are: 540.937.7717 and 540.727.7900.