Drunken Pony Goes for a Midnight Swim

Posted on | October 17, 2008 | No Comments

A greedy pony ended up drunk after gorging on fermented apples and had to be rescued after falling into a private swimming pool. The affectionately named ‘Fat Boy’ broke into Sarah Penhaligon’s garden in Cornwall to get at the fruit trees and ate so many apples he became “punch drunk”.

Miss Penhaligon, 28, from Newquay, was woken in the early hours on Tuesday by the sounds of the animal in distress. She called the fire brigade and crews managed to rescue the pony using a harness. Fat boy was unhurt.

“When I looked outside I saw this massive animal in the dark and I thought the Beast of Bodmin moor was in the pool,” Miss Penhaligon said. “I was terrified, but when I took a closer look I realised it was a horse!”

A vet said Fat Boy was not injured by his unscheduled midnight swim. “I didn’t have a clue what to do next – who do you call when there’s a horse stuck in your swimming pool?”

A spokeswoman for Trenance Riding Stables, where Fat Boy lives, said horses had been known to get “punch drunk” from eating too many apples. “It looks like he was scrounging for apples in the garden and fell in when he trod on the tarpaulin over the pool,” she said. “It’s a good job he’s got a lot of bulk, as it kept him warm while he was stuck in the water.

“After he got out he was taken back and checked over by a vet, but luckily he’s fine.”

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