'The Neverending Story' in Reverse: Watch Saratoga Springs New York Police Officers Pull Horse that Fell into Icy Pond

By H. Rose Schneider

Source Times Union, Albany, N.Y.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Sly the horse took an icy plunge into his farm's pond Monday afternoon. His owner, Ali Ernst, said he's lucky to be alive.

The 32-year-old Saratoga Springs resident had just gotten home from work and was talking to her mother about trying to get their three horses off the frozen pond, and who she would have to call if any fell in. Sly, who was born and raised on the family farm, had spent most of his 22 winters playing on the ice.

Then Ernst looked outside.

"I just saw his head bobbing in the water," she said.

Ernst first called her grandfather, who owns a construction company.

"I thought we'd need a backhoe to get him out," she said.

She called her employer, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, where she works as an anesthetist. She knew they would have supplies like a sling. Then she called 911.

The farm's pond is about 10 to 12 feet deep. Sly had to rear up on his hind legs to stay above water. Ernst ran to the pond and grabbed his head. She dropped her phone, and saw her camera app was open. On a whim, she snapped a photo. In the image, Sly's head is the only part of him above water, his muzzle resting on a crust of ice with Ernst's hand gripping his nose band.

"I genuinely thought it was going to be the last picture I was going to take of him," she said.

It took about 20 minutes before the first police officer arrived, Ernst said. By then, only Sly's eyes and nose were above the water.

Saratoga Springs police said they received a call around 3:45 p.m. for a horse through the ice. Officer Kyle Clinton was the first to arrive. Ernst said he helped her get Sly's head above water. She tossed a rope, hoping it would snag one of his legs. When it did, Clinton started helping her pull.

Officers Kris Camarro and Dominic Martuscello arrived a short time later and began to help, city police said. Ernst said eventually a team consisting of the officers, two local firefighters, her grandfather and two of his employees were pulling with her.

"I just lost how many people were around me," she said.

A video released by city police shows the excruciating rescue — a scene evocative of a sinking horse in "The NeverEnding Story," but in reverse. Sly pokes his head out of the water, then gets his legs up, eventually laying on his side as the team pulls him out.

Ernst said Sly was taken to Rood & Riddle, where he is recovering in a heated barn.

"He's just very muscle-sore, very tense," she said.

Ernst also installed a temporary fence around the pond this morning. She credits the police and firefighters who arrived with saving Sly.

"If they hadn't arrived when they did, he wouldn't be alive," she said.

______________

Visit www.timesunion.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.