Milton hopes to get Lucky, the mannequin horse

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Milton, the moneyed equine community in north Fulton, wants to get Lucky.

Not lucky, as in winning a lottery. Lucky, as in the $11,000 horse mannequin.

The fire department is raising money to buy the horse mannequin for training. To practice now, the department’s large animal rescue unit uses live horses, which require a veterinarian and a horse owner willing to let their animal be sedated, said fire Lt. Bill Bourn.

Lucky, so named by manufacturer Rescue Critters! of Los Angeles, has a movable head and limbs. It’s life-size but weighs only 400 pounds, compared with 1,000 to 1,200 pounds for an average horse.

Still, it would allow firefighters to train for equine rescue scenarios: an overturned trailer, a horse in a sinkhole or a steed that wanders into a swimming pool.

“They usually end up in the shallow end,” Bourn said. “Getting in was a lot easier than getting out.”

None of these emergencies has happened yet, but it’s not out of the question for Milton, which has more than 100 horse farms, Bourn said. It’s one of the few towns in Georgia with a large animal rescue unit, he said.

To pay for the mannequin, the Milton Fire Department needs luck — and generosity. It will hold a fund-raiser from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 23 at Chukkar Farms and Polo Club. For more information, visit www.cityofmiltonga.us or call 678-242-2500.

Rescue Critters produces about a dozen handmade horse mannequins a year along with first-aid training mannequins such as Fluffy the cat ($329) and Jerry the K-9 ($989), said company President Craig Jones.

“It’s a niche market,” he said.