Cold rescue of horse in Dix Hills pool
15-year-old horse Mikey in Dix Hills (left) a day after falling into a pool (right). Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan (left) and Jamie Wendt (right)
You can lead a horse to water - but getting him out can be tricky.
And standing in his plaid blanket in the sunshine Friday, Mikey the horse seemed to thank his lucky horseshoes.
The night before, the 1,100- pound bay was trapped, up to its neck in a 7-foot-deep Dix Hills swimming pool. It took 40 minutes, a firehose-turned-harness and dozens of rescuers to fish out the 16-year-old.
The trouble began when Mikey and two other horses wandered away from their stable on Grayon Drive around 7 p.m. Thursday, owner Jane Meisse, said Friday.
Meisse, of Huntington Station, isn't sure how the animals got loose, but she spied them on Carlls Straight Path while driving to the stable Thursday evening. She quickly called 911.
Officials from the Suffolk Police Emergency Section, Marine Bureau Section, and firefighters from the Dix Hills and Commack fire departments responded.
By then, the trio had made their way to a property on Carlls Straight Path.
As police and Meisse corralled two of the horses, Mikey somehow made his way into the pool. Officials think he may have stepped on the pool's cover, which then gave way under his weight.
Dozens of officials surrounded the pool. Dix Hills firefighters Kevin Chadrjian and Kris Tillis jumped into the icy water to place a harness on Mikey.
"It was kind of like the horse was in trouble and we have to do what we can to save it," said Chadrjian, who was in the freezing water for about five minutes. "It makes me happy that I was able to do something to help."
Chadrjian and Tillis were later treated at Huntington Hospital for hypothermia and released.
Donald Orofino, 70, who owns the pool, said he was eating dinner when he heard the commotion. A retired physician, Orofino took the men into his home and helped them get warm.
A Huntington Town spokesman said Friday Orofino's pool is in compliance with town's safety rules.
Tom Magno, a first assistant chief of the Dix Hills fire department, said firefighters and other rescue personnel were happy to have saved the horse. "Even though it was cold and the guys in the water really felt it," Magno said, "they also felt pretty good about saving Mikey."
A vet was called to the scene to treat Mikey, who walked back to his stable with Meisse.
Friday afternoon, Meisse reflected on the saga as she tended to Mikey and four other horses she owns. "There was a point where I thought he wasn't going to make it out . . . It was very frightening."
With Gary Dymski and
Other LI animals that got loose
April 2010:
Two bulls broke free in a quiet East Patchogue neighborhood. The pair dashed across backyards, jumped fences, cavorted on train tracks and defied the herding heroics of the locals trying to capture them. No one was gored, or otherwise injured, during the incident. The bulls eventually were returned to their home.
June 2010:
Seven horses stopped traffic in the eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway at Exit 73. For nearly an hour, the animals wandered on the expressway running back and forth between lanes. They were rounded up without incident and returned them to their farm.
Nov. 2010:
A deer crash-landed inside a small, fenced fish pond at a Mastic Beach home, becoming trapped as the home's occupants looked on. The deer had tried unsuccesfully to jump out, but couldn't clear the fence that surrounded the man-made pond. The animal was later freed by Suffolk County police.
