image description
Dozens of people, including firefighters and police officers, came to the rescue Sunday of a horse caught in a ditch. Dexter was removed with the help of a Sayers tow truck.

Lanesborough Turns Out to Help Draft Horse Out of Ditch

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

Dexter appears to have weathered his traumatic incident without injury.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Randy Cormier sent out plea for help over Facebook on Sunday.
 
More than 40 responded to Brookside Farm to help Dexter, a Belgian draft horse, out of a freezing ditch to safety.
 
Owners Cormier and Heidi White said they are extremely thankful for the help of the Lanesborough Volunteer Fire Department, the Lanesborough Police Department, Sayers Auto Wrecking, friends and family, and strangers.
 
"I was overwhelmed, it's just something to be said for small towns and animals," Cormier said.
 
The two were leaving the farm after a daily feeding when they noticed that Dexter had found himself at the bottom of a rocky brook and was unable to get up. The ditch was so deep that the horse could barely be seen.
 
"He was down but he didn't seem like he was hurt or anything," Cormier explained.
 
"He was just laying down in the, it's like a little brook, it's muddy and it is rocky and that's what scared us because it was a lot of rocks so we didn't know if he hit his leg on anything."
 
The two repeatedly tried to rescue him themselves but soon realized they needed help. 
 
Dexter tips the scales at about 2,500 pounds and, because of his size, getting up expels a lot of energy.
 
"He tried several different times, it was just me and her there, he tried and tried and we could tell that for some reason he just couldn't catch his ground, he just couldn't stand up," Cormier explained.
 
"I don't know if it was because it was in a ditch and it was on a hill."
 
Cormier posted a call for help on his Facebook page reading: "Our horse fell in a ditch and it's just two of us trying to get him up time is of the essence please help if you can!!!!!"
 
He also called his brother Jerry Cormier and nephew Tyler Cormier, who rushed over. Even with the extra manpower, they were not able to get Dexter out of the ditch and the horse was becoming at risk in the freezing temperatures.
 
"The biggest thing was he was starting to freeze, he was shivering and we had to get him out of that cold freezing water," Cormier explained.  Throughout the incident, he and White attempted to warm the horse with blankets.
 
When people started showing up in response to the social media post, Cormier said his mind was blown.
 
"From that, I'm not kidding you I had people start calling right away, I put my phone number on there, people I didn't know, people I knew, people that had been tagged on Facebook saying, 'hey, you know about horses,' or 'You live in Lanesborough,' whatever the thing may be," he said.
 
"But we had people as far as like Windsor and Goshen saying they're on their way, and tons of people from Lanesborough."
 
All of a sudden dozens of people were there. The town's Fire Department really stepped up to the plate and took control of the situation, he added.  
 
"Many hands make for light work and I appreciate the incredible response," said Fire Chief Jeff Dechaine. "Problems come in all shapes and sizes and it feels good knowing we have a team that gets the job done. We made a lot of people (and one horse) super happy."
 

Sayers also showed up with a tow truck and between the wrecker, some wide straps from the Fire Department, and about 20 people, Dexter was pulled out.
 
"Through the efforts of the tow truck, getting him out a little bit, and then literally, we had straps around him, and probably 15 to 20 of us were on one end and another group was holding his legs up on the other end, firemen," Cormier said.
 
"And we dragged him out onto that embankment up into flat land and five minutes later, he just stood up on his own like nothing had ever happened."
 
Dexter was down for a total of about two hours. This reportedly shows his strength because horses are normally not supposed to be down for that long.
 
The couple was stunned by the community outpouring that came from a single Facebook post. Cormier pointed out that the event happened on a Sunday, a day off for many of the people who showed up for the effort.
 
It was a very emotional day as well.  
 
The couple owns two horses boarded at Brookside Farm, Dexter and Kiki, but Dexter is technically White's horse and Kiki is Cormier's.
 
He said the horses are family and it was so heartbreaking to see a loved one struggling.
 
Thankfully, Dexter came out of the incident with no injuries and was chowing down on hay soon after. Cormier has posted regular updates on Facebook that confirmed the horse is in good health and spirits.
 
To thank the first responders, Cormier and White would like to find a way to raise money for the Fire Department to acquire a proper hoist for moving large animals. This equipment could be useful for the many farms that are located in the county.
 
"I know how scary it is just being in that situation, and I know that there's so many horse people around here and their animals are their life," Cormier said. "It could happen to anybody."

Tags: animal rescue,   horses,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories