‘The dogs pushed me in!’ Mum finds son stuck head-first in haynet
There can be only one priority when you arrive in the hay barn to find your son stuck head-down in a haynet holder, legs waving in the breeze, a dog’s paw firmly on his head.
And somehow, while howling with laughter, Heather Westgate managed to capture the moment on camera.
Heather told H&H 14-year-old Felix had not been well last Friday (13 January) so she helped him out with his eventing pony Tom and new horse Monty.
“So on Saturday, I had to work and he said he’d fill up the haynets, and off he toddled,” Heather said. “He’s got a phone watch and next thing, I had a message saying ‘Mum, I’m in a bit of a predicament’. I didn’t think that sounded too bad so it was a good 10 minutes before I got round there.”
Heather said Felix had also tried to ring his father, who missed the call, so there he still was, investigating the bottom of the haynet, when she arrived.
“I just laughed and said, ‘You have to stay there!’” she said. “I’ve got to get a picture of this. for SEU. I said ‘Hang on, I will get you out in a moment but I’ve got to get the photo!’”
Heather added that she thought at first Felix may have staged his accident. “But he said ‘Mum, I couldn’t, I was stuck!’” she said.
“It’s a brilliant photo; there’s the puppy with his paw on Felix’s head to keep him there, and someone else said ‘It’s not the puppy you need to worry about, it’s the cat in the background!’
“The dogs were playing with him and apparently pushed him in head-first; he just said ‘They pushed me!’
“I love the photo and it is going down in history.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.