PELION, S.C. — Frolicking in the field is where you typically see a horse, but a couple of days ago that's not where Dandy the horse was found.
After reaching for some tasty grass near a pond, the Arab gelding slipped into the pond as the the ground was softened by recent rains.
"The barn manager saw him when he fell into the pond and they ran out there and saw that he couldn't get up. He was, the way he fell, his feet were uphill and he kept trying to stand up but he couldn't," Linda Sinclair the owner of Dandy.
She arrived right after the Fire Department then Lexington County Animal Services and finally Lexington County Public Works.
"It was very terrifying because he was struggling to get up and it was hot. It was over 100 degrees," Sinclair said.
Patrolman Ralph Sons with the Pelion Police Department has some experience with horses and called in a forklift.
"Knowing how to deal with the bigger animals, we were all able to work together and I just gave them a couple of pointers and we were able to get it up and out," Sons said. "You want to protect life and limb. It doesn't matter if it's an animal or if it's a human being. If you can save an animal than that's what we're all here for."
All agencies working together were racing against the clock too because horses can't be down for long.
"They start shutting down. Their circulation slows down and their heart rate slows down," Sinclair said.
Dandy was feeling quite dandy after his feet touched the ground again.
It took five hours to get the horse out and his owner explains if he was there one hour longer they would've had to put him down.
Linda tells News 19 Dandy wasn't hurt at all. He just had a little bruising and was a little sore after the rescue.