FIREFIGHTERS were taught equine etiquette at a polo club to prepare them for large animal rescues.

Crews attended a workshop with three Parelli instructors at Longdole Polo Club, in Birdlip on Thursday, October 3.

The session, led by Jackie Evans and Sharon Crabbe, from Nailsworth, and Elaine Knox, from Ross on Wye, taught crews from Cheltenham how to behave around horses and to understand what to do when they are stressed.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is often called out to rescue animals such as horses and cattle, which have become trapped in ditches, on fences or in machinery.

These incidents and others like them are so common that, last year, a large animal rescue team was introduced.

Cllr Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for fire, said: “This is a great opportunity for our firefighters to be given a better understanding of horses and to be better prepared in times of large animal rescues, for their own protection as much as anything else.

“Every second counts in any rescue situation and if fire crews are able to quickly calm down the horse and behave in a way that doesn’t alarm the animal, there is a much greater chance of a successful call-out.”