Around 7 p.m. Monday night, Cherokee County emergency responders got a call to Curtis Road in Hickory Flat where a horse had fallen into a hole.

Brittany Holt was riding the horse when she noticed that two of the riders and horses she was traveling with had difficulty crossing part of their trail. When her horse began to cross, the ground gave way and the horse began to sink. Holt told the Cherokee Emergency Services that she dove off the horse, but it began thrashing and got stuck even deeper.

The large animal rescue team from Milton came and constructed an A-Frame to pul the animal out. After three hours, the horse was taken to the University of Georgia Veterinary Hospital.

"The horse died around 12:45 a.m. en route to the hospital," said Tim Cavender, the spokesman for Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services.