Racehorse trainer battles floods to save horses
A racehorse trainer has told H&H how he came to the rescue of four horses during floods in Yorkshire.
The three ex-racehorses and Shetland pony became trapped on an island within their field (not pictured) in Middleham earlier this month (15 November).
The area had been affected by flooding and the horses moved from the safety of the high ground to fast-flowing water that submerged the lower ground.
The horse’s owner, Tina Weston, believes the horses were spooked into this area.
Tina posted about the situation on Facebook and her friend and racehorse trainer Andy Crook saw the post.
Andy arrived at the field at around 12.30pm.
“I did not expect to see what I saw,” he told H&H. “They were on this very little island surrounded by water.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
One of the retired racehorses was Sylvan Oak, a former hurdler Andy had trained.
Tina’s husband Mark waded out and put a headcollar on the Shetland before Andy made his way out to the island.
“I’m only 5’2” — I was up to my armpits in water,” he said.
“The first horse I got hold of came about 20 yards with me but then wouldn’t come any further, so I went over to Sylvan Oak and put a headcollar on him.
“He came with me all the way. We helped each other out in the current, the water was spinning him round and I held onto his rug so I didn’t get pulled away.”
The other horses followed of their own accord and Mark brought the Shetland back to safety.
“He did a cracking job,” said Andy.
“All the horses were ok. They would have been well bedded-down for the night.”
“We were a bit cold but fine.”
The rescue took around an hour to complete.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
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.