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Three days before Christmas, most people were hectically shopping, wrapping presents, or eating their way through family-sized tins of Quality Street.

But while festivities were going on elsewhere, firefighters from Heywood were stuck in a muddy field rescuing a horse from difficulties.

Okay, so it wasn't a real horse, but the exercise was vitally important for the firefighters as Heywood Fire Station is one of just two stations across Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) to have the capabilities for animal and water rescue operations.

Red Watch, managed by Watch Manager Neil Fox and Crew Manager Andy Waterhouse, were doing their annual animal rescue training at Leigh Fire Station.

The day started with a refresher course where the crew completed a quiz to see how much they knew about animal and water rescue - quite a lot it would seem.

The aim of this part of the course was to remind the firefighters of the basics for dealing with this type of incident, including what the risks are, what equipment to use, and how to deal with a distressed animal.

This was followed by an outdoor training session at a nearby farm, during which the crew simulated rescuing a horse from various scenarios using their specialist equipment.

GMFRS has two fire stations which are equipped and trained for dealing with animal and water rescue incidents - Heywood and Eccles.

As the majority of animal rescues involve water, all the crews at both stations receive this training in a replicated 'real-life' situation.

A simulated area, including a horse box, ditches and trenches, is being set up at Leigh Fire Station which will extend the training and give firefighters more opportunity to train, and this is due to open in April 2012.

Austin Lewis and Andy Topping, from the GMFRS Training and Development Centre, delivered the training.

Austin said: "Because we are dealing with large animals there are a number of risks involved, both to the animal and the crews, and the general public if they are at the scene. 

"The majority of our large animal incidents happen around water, or mud, or ice and there's usually a member of the public or a farmer around who has a close relationship to the animal so the crew has to keep them away from the animal for their own safety.

"We work with the RSPCA who have been on these courses and have an understanding of what we do, and BEVA (British Equine Veterinary Association) and we work to CFOA (Chief Fire Officers' Association) standards."

The crews train in all weather conditions to prepare for any eventuality, but luckily for the lads this time, it was a bright and pleasant day.

Last update: 23/12/2011 11:55:56