A Welsh horse owner saddled up and rode to the rescue of a group of ponies stranded by floods in their field.
There were rainstorms and heavy flooding in Usk, Monmouthshire on Tuesday, 15 January, and in a field next to the livery yard where Andrew Williams keeps his horse, seven ponies, including four pregnant mares, became trapped by the rising water.
So Andrew tacked up hunter Ben and rode into the field to herd them up cowboy style.
“There was about four feet of water in the field and the brook looked as though it was about to burst its bank,” said Andrew. “There was really no other way across except by swimming on a horse.”
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
“The ponies are quite wild and although I tried to get close enough to catch one and lead it I could not get near to them.”
But after around half an hour he managed to herd them onto high land away from the flooded area.
“They were not very cooperative but in the end I managed it and I understand they have all been checked over and are fine.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.
