A North Otago horse in a tricky spot may not have considered himself lucky when a Department of Conservation ranger armed with an angle grinder came to his rescue. Gary Hayes was repairing the roof of historic stables at the Birchwood Homestead in Ahuriri Conservation Park last week when he heard a cry for help from Angie Leckey, whose horse Manuka was in trouble. Manuka had launched himself over the front bar of his horse float, was head down to the ground and trapped. ‘‘She [Angie] asked if I knew anything about horses and I said, ‘no, but I’ll help’. The horse couldn’t breathe. It was stuck on the partition in the float and had slumped over to one side. It was going to die,’’ Mr Hayes said. ‘‘I used my angle grinder to cut away the metal partition. We were trying to calm the horse as sparks were flying.…