SALEM, Ore. - Firefighters helped get a 2-year-old mare out of a deep mudhole on Friday.

The frightened horse was held out of the water and comforted by Sgt. Chris Melgard with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, who had also responded to the scene.

The firefighters fashioned a sling system around the horse's body and used manpower to pull the exhausted horse out of the mudhole.  They gave the horse oxygen and used portable lamps, normally used for interior scene lighting, to warm the shivering and exhausted horse.

Tricia Dennis, who breeds Appaloosa horses on the 28-acre property located at 2311 Cole Road, S., said she realized the horse was missing at feeding time and went looking for the mare. 

A veterinarian was called to the scene to check out the horse.  The mudhole was created by the root ball of a fallen tree.