Gemma the horse rescued from 70-foot ravine outside of Redmond | UPDATE

Published 2:15 pm Tuesday, May 28, 2013

UPDATE

After almost 12 hours of work, crews from eight different agencies successfully and safely rescued Gemma, a 4-year-old fjord pony, from the bottom of a 70-foot ravine outside of Redmond.

Michelle Jacob, spokesperson for Saddle Rock Stables near Redmond Ridge, where Gemma has been boarded for the past three weeks, said the rescue was completed around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“It went amazingly,” she said. “The best possible thing that could happen, happened.”

Jacob said other than a scratch on her face, Gemma has no other injuries, though after spending about 30 hours down in the ravine, the pony was very tired.

The rescue crews took empty fire hoses to fashion a harness for Gemma, which was wrapped around her body, through her front and hind legs and supported her chest and tail, Jacob said. A line of fire hose also ran along Gemma’s back as a handle.

Jacob said the crews used about eight different rope-and-pulley systems at various tiers and heights for leverage to pull the 800-pound Gemma up the cliff and hill. She said there were about 60 emergency workers, “basically pulling the horse up the hill.”

“It was a pretty big effort to get her out of there safely,” Jacob said.

Tom Hansen, the veterinarian who went down into the ravine with Gemma while she was being rescued, sedated the pony a bit so she wouldn’t thrash while being pulled. Throughout the rescue, Jacob said Gemma seemed to know when she needed to get up and move forward by her own power and when she needed to take a break so the crews could swap pulley systems.

“She was great,” Jacob said about Gemma.

ORIGINAL STORY

Crews from the Washington State Animal Response Team (WASART), King County Search and Rescue Association (KCSARA) and Redmond Fire Department spent Tuesday morning working to rescue a pony that was at the bottom of a ravine outside of Redmond.

Gemma, a 4-year-old fjord pony, had escaped from Saddle Rock Stables at 24301 N.E. 115th St. near Redmond Ridge sometime overnight between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Michelle Jacob, spokesperson for Saddle Rock, said it is unclear how Gemma ended up there — whether she fell or lost her footing — but she is doing fine aside from being stuck.

“The pony is doing great,” Jacob said, adding that Gemma had been given hay and water while crews figured out how to rescue her.

In addition, a veterinarian had gone down into the ravine with the pony.

Gemma had been present for the dinner feeding and final check Sunday night but was gone by Monday morning breakfast, prompting a search that lasted all day Monday and ended early Tuesday morning around 2 a.m.

Jacob said Gemma had kicked out a fence separating the Saddle Rock pasture from the pasture next door, where she spent some time grazing before continuing to enjoy her newfound freedom with some exploring. Gemma was found in a nearby ravine — at the bottom of about a 70-foot drop down a hill and cliff.

Glenn Wallace of KCSARA said Gemma was strapped into a harness late Tuesday morning as they worked to find the best way to rig the pony back up the cliff and hill using ropes and pulleys.

“We’ve got about close to 36 volunteers here today,” he said.

Wallace said they would probably do the rescue in two stages — pulling Gemma up to the landing at the top of the 25-foot cliff before pulling her the remaining 45 feet up the hill. He said the rescue would take between one and three hours, depending on how complicated things get and the focus was to keep everyone — human and pony — safe.

Wallace said KCSARA, who have assisted WASART on animal rescues in the past, has people trained and certified in high-angle rescues but they usually involved humans. He added that WASART have performed various animal rescues, including horses, but they usually aren’t as complex as Gemma’s situation.

Jacob said Saddle Rock has never had anything like this happen before since owner Barbara Linstedt opened the stables in 1996.

This was also the first time Gemma had gotten out, though it hasn’t been her first attempt. Jacob said Gemma, who is not a permanent resident at the stables and will be at Saddle Rock for a few months, has broken boards around the stables in the three weeks that she’s been at Saddle Rock but they were repaired before the pony was able to escape.

As a fjord, Jacob said it is in Gemma’s nature to explore.

“Fjords are a more nomadic breed of horse,” she said.