Sparsholt College and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are enrolling firemen throughout the UK in equine handling and awareness courses, according to a Horse & Hound article.

“Most firemen have little experience of horses, so it’s very beneficial,” Nigel Fox, deputy manager of agriculture at Sparsholt College, told the magazine.

Jim Green, an animal rescue officer in Hampshire, said that his rural safety team has rescued 11 horses in the past three months, including a pony trapped in a ditch and a horse impaled on railings. “It is encouraging to see these tangible results,” Green told Horse & Hound.

The magazine also reports that the program’s success has been recognized by the insurance company PetPlan, which invested over $15,000 of charitable funds to purchase more advanced equipment for the unit