“Butter” Rescued From Well Near Lake Elsinore

Multiple Riverside County agencies teamed up to rescue a miniature horse that had fallen into a well near Lake Elsinore.

Friday night November 1st 2024, firefighters from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department, officers and veterinary staffers from Riverside County Animal Services and the Riverside City Fire Department’s Heavy Animal Rescue Team joined forces to save a 12-year-old female horse named Butter.

The horse crashed through a plywood-covered well in the unincorporated area of Warm Springs, east of Lake Elsinore and north of the city of Canyon Lake. Although the approximately 350-pound horse fell initially about 15 feet, the well was actually 60 feet in depth after water was siphoned. The rescue efforts started early Friday (Nov. 1) afternoon and ended at about 10 p.m.

Rescue teams sedated the horse then put a large sling around the horse and used a pay loader to hoist her out of the well. 

Butter was not hurt and is back with her owner.

 

 

Photo from Riverside County Dept of Animal Services.. Nov 4th 2024