By Cara Sulieman
A FAMILY had to call out the fire brigade to help lift their arthritic horse after she lay down and couldn’t get back up again.
Lynn McFadyen, 45, has had Gilly for 20 years and has grown very attached to her.
But at 25 years old the horse is suffering from arthritis and has problems moving around.
So when she lay down on uneven ground yesterday morning, Lynn had no choice but to call the fire brigade to help her back up again.
“Roll around or sleep”
She said: “There’s uneven ground at the edge of the field near the fence and she was lying there this morning when we went out to see her.
“I don’t know whether she went down to roll around or sleep, but she couldn’t get back up again.
“Although she has arthritis, it would have been hard even for a young healthy horse to get up because of the uneven ground.”
The fire brigade who came down and used lines and length of hose to pull the horse back on to her feet.
“Distressed”
But it’s not the first time this has happened to Gilly – she had to be rescued during the winter as well.
Lynn said: “During the winter Gilly found herself stuck in a different part of the field. She was much more distressed that time and we called the fire out then as well.
“They were absolutely fantastic, as they were this time.
“They don’t treat it like a waste of time and do everything they can to make her comfortable.”
“Live longer”
Despite her age and bad health, Lynn is confident she will last a few more years.
She said: “Horses are starting to live longer now, sometimes into their 30s.
“Gilly gets supplements and anti-inflammatory medicine regularly and is leading a happy life.
“There will come a time though that we’ll have to see if she’s still got a good quality of life and decide what to do then.
“She was my first horse and has become part of the family. She’s got me through some really tough times.”
“Fight with a fence”
Lynn lives with her husband, Mark, 44, and their daughter Kara, 11, and a large variety of animals near Roslin in Midlothian.
A spokeswoman from Lothian Fire and Rescue confirmed that they had attended the scene.
She said: “We went to rescue Gilly the 25-year-old horse from the field at Moat Cottage in Roslin at 7.30 this morning.”
“I think she had had a fight with the fence and was on her side.
“The firemen used lines and lengths or hose to put her back on her feet.”
