NEW GLOUCESTER - The scenario: Karma, a 1,300-pound Tennessee walking horse, has fallen into a hole.

The goal: Get him out.

The problem: Veterinarians, firefighters and emergency workers are great in crises that involve people or household pets, but no one knows what to do with a half-ton horse.

Yet.

"Once you make the decision to lift, lift. Do not hesitate," trainer Tomas Gimenez says as people take up their assigned stations. Set up the lift. Get Karma in a sling. Rig the pulley system. There are degrees of inclination to consider, sling position, the proper place to stand to avoid getting kicked.

Then, suddenly, Gimenez shouts, "Go for it. Lift! Go, go, go!"

And Karma is up and in the air, swinging about 3 feet off the ground.

Pineland Farms Equestrian Center in New Gloucester this week hosted an intensive three-day workshop on large-animal rescue. Morning classroom sessions provided academic information on rescuing, restraining and calming horses, cows and other large animals. Afternoons offered hands-on training with real animals in mock emergencies.

The equestrian center brought Tomas and Rebecca Gimenez from South Carolina to Maine for the event. Nearly 30 people - including veterinarians, firefighters, emergency workers and members of the Maine Emergency Management Agency - participated.

Many said they wanted to attend because they'd experienced crises firsthand - a collapsed barn, an injured horse that couldn't get up, a car accident that caused a horse trailer to flip. Some emergencies ended well; others did not.

Mary Rich, deputy chief of New Gloucester Rescue, remembers trying to deal with a trapped and hurt horse two years ago. Firefighters, EMTs and veterinarians showed, she said, "but nobody had the training to get the horse out and it died."

The equestrian center decided to host the training last fall when one of its horses got spooked and snagged itself on a divider in a horse trailer. The horse couldn't get out.

"We couldn't find anyone to help. Everyone said they weren't trained," said Michelle Melaragno, barn and breeding manager.

The center eventually sawed off the divider to remove the horse.

On Thursday, participants learned about working as a team, evaluating crisis situations and ensuring the safety of humans and animals. They simulated an overturned trailer. They worked on getting Karma, a rescue-training horse, out of a "hole" - a marked-off square of grass.

They also planned to run a search-and-rescue exercise Thursday night, placing a trained horse in nearby woods for participants to save.

Rebecca Gimenez said she and her husband didn't expect participants to remember every technical detail of their training. It's not likely many of them will be able to rig an A-frame lift from memory a year from now. But she believes mock emergencies will make them familiar enough to help in real emergencies.

Monmouth vet J.R. Luanda said the training had definitely taught her a thing or two.

"I think this," she said, watching the group lift Karma off the ground, "is outstanding."