Officials rescued a horse found stuck in mud in Denton County on August 7, however, the horse died five days later.
The Denton County Fire Department received a call around 7 am and found the horse laying on its side next to a pond in Copper Canyon, submerged in mud up to its belly. No one knows how long the horse was stuck, but it could have been for up to 12 hours.
The horse was a large 22-year-old Belgian draft horse named Bella. She was a therapy horse at Unbridled Horse Therapy. According to Fox News, Bella worked with adults suffering from “autism, mental health issues, cerebral palsy, ADHD, anxiety, and other disabilities.” Belgians can weigh over 3,000 pounds, making it difficult to move them.
Firefighters and local volunteers had to dig around the horse before attaching ropes and trying to pull her out, however, the attempt was unsuccessful. They ended up using a tractor and a winch to finally liberate Bella from the mud.
While rescuing the horse, one person was submerged up to his waist in mud. Upon trying to get out, he injured his knee and had to be seen by a medical professional.
Bella also injured one of her legs during her rescue, which prompted her owners to opt to euthanize her.
Unbridled Horse Therapy has set up a GoFundMe to raise money to cover the cost of the vet bills for Bella and another horse that died in May.
Jilien Harvey, an instructor at Unbridled Horse Therapy, thanked the firefighters for their hard work, stating, “The Denton County first responders and Double Oak Volunteer Fire Department that spent countless hours helping us during this ordeal and checked on us after several times was nothing short of amazing.”
The organization stated that they are rescheduling some of their lessons until Bella can be replaced.