Freak field accident: one horse put down and another rescued from ditch
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 rescuePosted 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.”
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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.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.