Horse rescued from mud dies of hypothermia

A horse that was rescued last week after getting stuck in mud in Hailsham has died of hypothermia.

The RSPCA arranged for the bay mare, who was found on 25 February in a field on Old Swan Lane, to be rescued by the fire service and taken to an equine vet.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “The fire service did a fantastic job rescuing the mare from the mud.

“Although she appeared to be OK, the horse was suffering hypothermia and later died. We would like to thank the fire service, the vets and the member of public who called us about this horse and did all they could to help. We are urgently looking to trace the owner of this horse.”

The RSPCA said the mare was grazing with others that appeared to belong to a number of different owners and were allegedly being fly-grazed on the land without the owner’s permission.

“Our inspectors are continuing to keep a very close eye on these horses and we share the public’s concerns about the conditions in the field. We would like to reassure the public that we doing all we can, within the law, to help these horses,” said the spokesman.

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