A horse has been rescued from a harrowing situation and another put down after they became spooked overnight in their field.
Twenty three-year-old gelding Jae jumped out of his paddock and fell into a dyke.
Land owners Graham Lush and his sister Nicki discovered Jae trapped in the mud-filled ditch the following morning (16 March).
Jae rescue
Posted by Kirsty Chapman on Thursday, March 16, 2017
“When I arrived the fire brigade and vet had been called, and both were en route,” Jae’s owner Kirsty Chapman told H&H.
“Jae had obviously gone over the fence as it wasn’t broken and fallen into the dyke overnight. He was shivering from the cold and exhausted from trying to free himself.
“Something must have seriously spooked him and his field mate for this to happen, as he’s very sane and sensible usually and hates water!
“It is thick silt under the water surface and he was completely stuck.”
Firefighters used specialist equipment to pull Jae to safety after a vet had sedated him.
“He is recovering well, although he is understandably sore and now very wary of wet or soft ground and puddles,” said Kirsty.
“He is on his final day of pain relief today, but is expected to make a full recovery.”
Kirsty explained that sadly the older pony Jae was turned out with, Rosie, was “so traumatised by whatever happened in the night”, that she suffered a head trauma causing her to lose her sight and had to be put down.
Kirsty has owned Jae for 14 years and he was semi-retired to grass in December.
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She added that the ditch is not usually accessible from the horses’ field, but the fences were taken down following Jae’s accident to assist his rescue.
“For the professionals and my friends and even strangers who dropped everything to help, I am so grateful,” Kirsty said.
“The fire crew and animal team were amazing. The vet, Zoe from Paton and Lee, went above and beyond her duty to become fully involved in the rescue.”
