When I think about which animal I’d most want to have by my side in an emergency, my mind normally goes straight to dogs. They are well known for stepping in to help humans, other dogs and pretty much any other living creature when they sense that something’s wrong.

I never expected to hear about a horse springing to the rescue – but that’s exactly what happened in this story!

The incident took place in a stable in Somerset, England, when a shire horse took a sudden turn for the worst and needed immediate attention.

Beatrice is a 16 year old shire horse, a British species of draft horses. One day she came down with equine colic, which causes extreme abdominal pain.

When poor Beatrice couldn’t take the pain any longer, she collapsed in her stable, something which is life-threatening for a horse. Horses cannot be off their feet for long, as it puts them at risk of “reperfusion injury” – meaning their blood flow can’t reach certain areas of their body, leading to internal organ failure.

Her owners Donald MacIntyre and Jane Lipington called to four other farm workers for help lifting Beatrice to her feet. They knew they didn’t have much time.

Together, they used an improvised pulley system made from their tractor and massive straps to lift the one-tonne horse. But she was just too heavy, and nothing was working.

Worried, the couple began to put a deadline on when they would have to put her down – the longer she stayed on the ground, the more her heart rate and blood pressure were reaching dangerous levels.

Last minute rescue

20 minutes before that deadline was due to arrive, Jane remembered that she needed to let Beatrice’s companion, Beau, out into the yard for a walk. She went over to the 11 year old stalion’s stable and opened the door, but to her shock, he went straight to Beatrice’s stable.

Knowing immediately that something was wrong, he put his head over the stable divider, and began to nip at Beatrice’s neck, grabbing her head and trying to pull her up.

And unbelievably, at that moment she rolled over and got up. Beau had achieved what 6 humans couldn’t!

“We all watched with amazement. He lifted her so that her chest and legs came up off the ground, with a little encouragement from us she got shakily to her feet and we quickly walked her out into the yard trying to stop her falling down,” Jane tells Liftable.

Beatrice has since recovered and is doing well. She and Beau have been mates for 4 years, and it’s obvious that they have a special bond, just like any human feels towards their loved one!