RESCUERS have described the life threatening situation they dealt with this afternoon at the Romsey Show.

Animal rescue specialist Anton Phillips told how the incident in which a horse became trapped in his horse box threatened the life of the horse and both the members of the public and emergency services that might try to help the distressed animal.

The incident happened in the horse box parking area of the event where 14.1 hand Cobb horse Prince, thought to be around seven years old, jumped over the breast bar and partition of his rear facing horse box.

He then went through the partitioning door inside the horse box getting stuck halfway through the doorframe, with the door still attached.

Fire engines and rescue vehicles raced to the scene after getting the call around 12.15pm.

Mr Phillips said the first thing he did was ask for quiet to keep the horse calm so it would not hurt itself or wedge itself further.

It was then heavily sedated so fire crews could use a circular saw and shears, the same equipment they use to cut people from cars, to cut away the doorframe and cut a hole in the partition wide enough for the horse to get back through.

Rescuers were them able to reverse the horse backwards and out of the horse box.

The horse is now recovering from the sedative, but Mr Phillips said apart from a cut on one side was fine.

Mr Phillips said the incident could have been very serious and said he had had several such incidents this year involving rear facing horse boxes.

"I'm quite pleased with the way this has turned out," he said.

"For that horse to get away with that in this entrapment it has done very well.

"You ought to ask him for his lottery numbers."