Crews rescue horse named 'Lucky' from sinkhole in Los Angeles

More than 40 Los Angeles City Firefighters on Wednesday rescued a 1,200-pound horse named “Lucky” from a muddy hole in Lake View Terrace.

LAFD said they responded to a 911 call of a horse stuck in the mud in the backyard of a residence in the 10400 block of W. Foothill Boulevard at about 12:35 p.m.

When firefighters arrived, they found a horse trapped in a muddy hole.

“There was a sinkhole and at times the horse was up to its head inside the sinkhole”, said LA city fire captain and public information officer Adam VanGerpen.

VanGerpen said because the soil was very loose, they called Urban Search and Rescue as well as the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Services “Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team” (SMART) that provides assistance in animal rescues.

More than 40 firefighters came to rescue the 20-year-old female horse named “Lucky.”

“We brought in an excavator, we set up a height point, and we were able to dig out the horse”, said VenGerpen. Crews successfully used a pulley system to hoist the horse.

“Lucky’s” owner, Juan Lastre, said his wife had saddled up the horse before noon and started walking when suddenly he thought the horse tripped on the asphalt. However, the horse had actually fallen forward and that’s when it started to sink.

“We took the saddle off, but she struggled with the back legs. As she struggled, she was going deeper and deeper, and I put sandbags, but that didn’t help, said Lastre.

VenGerpen said the rescue took at least two hours, but the horse was in the hole for at least four.

“We evaluated the horse. “Lucky is very lucky to be alive,” said VenGerpen.