By Tony Paul
The Detroit News
BURLINGTON, Mich. — Four horses hit up a west Michigan golf course Sunday, and they ended up taking an unplanned polar plunge.
The story, remarkably, has a happy ending.
According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, four horses fell through the ice on a pond at Turtle Creek Golf Course in Burlington, south of Battle Creek, on Sunday morning. They were rescued from the shallow water by several members of the county’s Area Law Enforcement Underwater Rescue Team (ALURT), according to an announcement by the Sheriff’s Office on Sunday night.
Firefighters from at least four departments responded to the emergency call around 8:40 a.m., and were able to pull the horses out of the water one by one. The horses were able to walk away from the scene and received medical treatment, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
No responding firefighters or members of the ALURT dive team were injured. According to photos released by the Sheriff’s Office, at least 10 people from various departments helped with the rescue of the four horses.
“The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office commends the quick action and teamwork demonstrated by all responding agencies,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a social-media post to Facebook on Sunday night, “including Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority personnel, whose coordination placed a critical role in the successful outcome of this rescue.”
The horses, according to the Sheriff’s Office , had escaped their nearby enclosure.
The ice in the pond, which was covered by several inches of snow, succumbed to the weight of the horses despite temperatures reported to be below zero in west Michigan shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday .
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