EMYVALE, PEI -- Emergency responders in Prince Edward Island made a 1000-pound rescue after a family discovered their horse had fallen into their backyard swimming pool.

The horse, named Shanty, found herself stuck in the pool Wednesday night after breaking through a hole in the electric fence surrounding her five-acre pen in Emyvale.

Emergency responders say it was quite a scene.

“We went from a cat in a tree, to a horse in a pool,” said Dean Smith, a firefighter with the North River fire department.

However, what may seem like an absurd situation quickly became concerning for those trying to save the animal.

“It wasn’t too long into it when we realized we’re dealing with a horse that’s 33 years old,” said Smith. “We went from a relaxed feeling that the horse is calming down, to a worried feeling because the horse was not responding very well.”

To make matters worse, the elderly horse was tangled up in the pool’s cover.

“We were able to get some straps underneath the horse. That was a bit of a challenge. At the time same time, we were hooking up our winch and our block and tackle, hooking that to the base of a couple of trees. Thought we might have to winch the horse out.”

It took firefighters, neighbours and police more than an hour to free Shanty after she was found in the pool.

Shanty’s owner, Michael Arsenault, is still shaking his head after the incident.

“She’s very tough,” he said. “For a 33-year-old, she’s an amazing animal.”

Arsenault also says this isn’t Shanty’s first brush with death. A few years ago, the horse wandered out onto some nearby ice, and crashed through.

“She ended up colicking, and we thought we were going to lose her. But she did manage to bounce back within about three days,” said Arsenault, impressed by the resilience of his animal. “Even last night, she looked much better. She was eating once we had her in the barn.”

However, in this case, Shanty didn’t get away unscathed. It took vets more than an hour to stich up a deep cut in her leg, but less than 24 hours later, she was back on her feet, and seemed better than ever.

This latest episode with Shanty may have been another close call, but the horse-loving family says they believe she’s still on track to reach her 40th birthday.

And while Arsenault spent the remainder of his Thursday patching up the fence around the pen, he says his next project will be horse-proofing the pool.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.