Clydesdale named Cyrus lifted to safety

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Cyrus, an 18-year-old Clydesdale horse weighing about 2,200 pounds. is lifted to safety after getting stuck in a muddy ravine at Thornbury Farm in Thornbury Township.

Updated at 6:45 p.m. with new details

An 18-year-old Clydesdale named Cyrus experienced a dramatic rescue on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Cyrus is secured to a harness in preparation for being lifted out of the ravine.
Cyrus is secured to a harness in preparation for being lifted out of the muddy ravine.

After crews worked for four hours to extricate the horse from a mud pit, a giant crane lifted the animal to safety.

Westtown-East Goshen Police Lt. William Cahill said when he arrived at the scene about 10 a.m., two vets were already working to sedate the horse. He said the horse had last been seen at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Cahill said workers at Thornbury Farm, a 300-year-old property owned by the Spackman family, had reported the horse missing about 8 a.m. and then located it outside a fenced area, with about 80 percent of its body submerged in mud.

Emergency personnel descended on the farm at 10 a.m. and crews toiled for four hours to get the approximately 2,000-pound animal secured so it could be eased out of the mud.  Cahill said crews utilized air knife trench rescue tools to slowly extricate Cyrus from the marsh. Then the horse was attached to a harness from Bob’s Crane Service, the same company that raises and lowers the lighted, 700-pound, stainless steel mushroom on New Year’s Eve in Kennett Square.

The horse begins its ascent after being pulled out of the mud.
The horse begins its ascent after being pulled out of the mud by emergency workers.

As onlookers and emergency workers held their breath, Cyrus was lifted into the air from a makeshift wooden platform about 2 p.m. and transported to higher ground.

“We are really fortunate to be in an area with access to such highly trained personnel who have great resources,” said Cahill. “Everyone really did a great job.”

Randell Spackman, whose family has owned the historic farm for about 100 years, said the horse is owned by Penny Parker, who rents space in the barn. “It was a tough situation,” he said, expressing profuse thanks to the approximately 75 emergency services workers who responded to the scene.

Thornbury Farm owner Randell Spackman expresses thanks to the emergency services workers who helped to rescue Cyrus.
Thornbury Farm owner Randell Spackman expresses thanks to the emergency services workers who helped to rescue Cyrus.

“I hope these vets can do something wonderful for the horse,” said his mother, Susie Spackman, who had been nervously watching the rescue.

Her son was optimistic that the horse would survive the ordeal. “Everyone just came out of the woodwork and came together,” he said. “I think there’s going to be a happy ending.”

Units from the Westtown-East Goshen Police Department, Birmingham Township Police Department, West Chester Fire Department, Longwood Fire Company, Wagontown Fire Company, and the Chester County Rescue Task Force were among some of the responding agencies.

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