Stuck in the mud: dramatic rescue for 850kg horse

Wednesday 20 September 2017

A 850kg shire horse - one of the biggest in Jersey - was rescued by the Fire Service yesterday afternoon after he got himself in a very sticky situation and got stuck in the mud in a field in St John.

Brad, who is also known as 'The Dark Destroyer', was dug out and hauled free using strops, a hose and a 4x4 during an intervention that took nearly two hours, but lasted a lifetime for his owner.

Brad, who is about 17 years old, gets his unusual nickname from a habit to take out large objects that get in his way. He is 1,82m and weighs 850kg and doesn't notice most hedges and fences in front of him and is known to "casually" walk in them. However, his weight played against him when he got stuck in a sticky muddy puddle. Last weekend's heavy rains transformed the wet field in St John where Brad is usually seen grazing in a bog "that sucks you in" according to Rachel Greenaway, Brad's owner.

She explained: "Horses have been going in that field for 40 years and it has never happened before. When I was trying to get him out I went in up to my waist just by standing on a bit that looked solid but really wasn't! As soon as he'd put one foot in the wrong bit, I imagine it got sucked in and then when he tried to correct himself putting the other foot in, he got totally sucked in and trapped."

Green Watch rescue large shire horse from deep mud in St John. The Dark Destroyer was dug out & hauled free with strops, hose & 4x4 vehicle pic.twitter.com/Pon1QRsVVQ

— Jersey Fire & Rescue (@JsyFire) September 19, 2017

Unable to get Brad out of the muddy bog, Ms Greenaway alerted the Fire and Rescue Service who arrived at around 16:00. The intervention felt like a lifetime for Ms Greenaway, who was worried Brad would get drowned in the mud. She said: "He got so exhausted trying to get himself out. He kept collapsing and his head was falling into the water."

Pictured: Brad is a 17-year-old Shire horse weighing 850kg.

Luckily, the crew was assisted by two vets from New Era who worked closely with them to make sure everyone was safe. After Brad was finally extracted from the mud, it took another 30 minutes for him to stand up and for Ms Greenaway to breathe a sigh of relief. Following the unfortunate incident, she praised the Fire team and the vets for their amazing work. As for Brad, he's now on the mend but will need lost of rest after the scary experience. Ms Greenaway said: "We are hoping he is over the worst as it was very critical at times yesterday so the fact he is stood up is good. But the vet is coming this morning to asses any damage but certainly he is out of the life threatening zone." 

(Pic: Jersey Fire & Rescue)