Crews rescue horse from South Fork River

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Volunteer firefighters and animal control in Lincoln County spent nearly two hours Thursday morning rescuing a horse that was stuck in a river.

A firefighter took cellphone video of the 15-year-old horse who was found stuck in the South Fork River near Vale.

Firefighters said the horse could not get out on its own, and with the threat of afternoon rain, they were concerned he could have been swept away.

They used a backhoe to clear an area and were able to get the horse safely out of the river.

"When I found him this morning, all he had was his head up out of water,” said the animal’s owner, Vicky Jarrett. “I went in and started yelling and it seemed people started coming. I'm glad he's OK, just tickled he's OK."

The horse, which is nicknamed Peyton, only had a few scratches.

"He could not get out on his own,” Gary Poovey with the Union Fire Department Gary Poovey said. “The next big rain would have washed him down the river."

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Cox Media Group