Horse Rescue!

It was a beautiful summers day. LongBeard and Missy, the little grey field mouse, were having a picnic with their friends.

Missy loved telling stories. She babbled enthusiastically about all the things she had been observing on the farm where she lives.

“Today,” she said “I want to tell you about the horse that got stuck in the mud.”

“It was mid term vacation and the children were home from boarding school. Carla, the farmer’s 10-year old daughter, was looking forward to riding her horse, Prince. He liked staying in the vicinity of the barn, where the workers often gave him extra hay and regularly brushed his coat.

My ears pricked up when I heard Carla calling Prince’s name again and again. I knew that something was wrong, as Prince usually comes quickly when she calls him. I had been busy sewing blankets for my 12 children and had not taken notice of what was going on outside.

I peeked through a hole and saw Carla walk towards a clump of trees not far from the barn. She disappeared behind them, but then suddenly came running back, yelling, ‘Daddy! Daddy! Help! Prince is stuck in the mud!’

The farmer and workers came running when they heard Carla calling. She told them what she had seen. The men were experienced in dealing with animals that were stuck, as this was a danger on any farm, especially when the water levels started to drop in the mud dams.

Cecil ran to get the tractor, Paul went to get some strong ropes and Jonas loaded chains, webbing and a metal tripod.”

“I could not contain my curiosity,” said Milly. “I scampered to where the action was as fast as my legs could carry me. There I climbed into a tree to see what was happening.

Cecil cautiously approached the horse, which seemed to be very frightened, for the whites of his eyes were showing and he was breathing fast through flared nostrils. He whistled softly and calmly while stroking the horse’s neck. He spoke gently and soothingly, trying to get him to relax. As if Prince could understand him, he whinnied softly and his eyes became calm. Prince was very dirty, as he must have been thrashing about in his efforts to get out.

The mud itself did not seem to be particularly deep and Cecil wondered what had caused Prince to get stuck. He felt the horse’s front legs one by one and noticed that they were free. Although he seemed to be standing firmly, the poor horse was quivering with exhaustion. Cecil checked the hind legs and noticed that one was lodged tightly in the mud. He could feel something hard in front of and behind it and surmised that Prince’s leg was jammed against some pieces of wood. Although three of Prince’s legs were free, he seemed unable to pull himself out. His strength was clearly waning and judging by the leeches that had started attaching themselves to his legs, Cecil judged that he must have been in the water for at least a day.

Paul started the water pump which was attached to the back of the tractor and began draining the water out of the muddy pool. In the meantime, Cecil and Jonas attached the webbing harness under Prince’s stomach, across his chest and under his tail. Once it was in place the men secured it above his back to a strong metal bar. Then they tied a chain to it and hooked it up to the tripod which Jonas had securely planted next to the mud pool.

As Paul pumped the water out they could see more clearly what was going on. Jonas, Carla and Cecil wiped the leeches off Prince’s legs as the water drained away. Prince stood quietly, supported by the web harness and tripod. Cecil was grateful, as their efforts would have been severely hampered if the horse decided to kick and thrash about in the water.

At last the mud was completely exposed and they could clearly see the wooden branches which were trapping the leg. They pushed it as far away as they could, but it seemed as if by now Prince was too weak to pull his leg out.

In the meantime, the experienced Paul had unhitched the water pump from the tractor. He drove to the tripod and transferred the chain to the tractor’s raised plough arms. His skillful maneuver ensured the chain remained tight the whole time, keeping Prince supported. At a sign from Cecil, he slowly drove forward, lifting Prince up and out of the mud.

With this additional assistance Prince was able to free his trapped leg and they pulled him to dry ground. Prince was shaking with fatigue, but eventually stood quietly on three legs, holding the injured one in the air.

With expert hands Cecil examined all four Prince’s legs as well as the other parts of his body which had been under water. He noticed that the one leg was swollen and had a shallow gash across the front. Jonas used a rag to wipe down the mud and they were satisfied that Prince had suffered no other serious injuries.

By now Prince had gingerly put his hind leg down on the ground and he whinnied softly, almost as if to thank the people. Carla hugged him and burst into tears. ‘Oh Prince, I am so glad that you are okay. I got such a fright,’ she sobbed while kissing him on his face. ‘Thank you, Daddy, Paul and Jonas, for rescuing Prince!’

She put a soft rope halter on Prince and very slowly led him back to the barn. Poor Prince was limping and seemed to be in pain. At the barn, Jonas helped Carla to wash Prince down with clean water and disinfectant. They wiped him dry with some old towels and put some ointment on the gash. While all this was going on, Prince was happily munching on some lucern from a haynet, almost closing his eyes in delight.

Jonas took a bandage that he had soaked in some comfrey tea and wrapped it around Prince’s swollen leg. He knew the herb would work quickly and that the swelling would go down within hours. Prince would walk normally again.

I returned to my peeping hole in the attic door and watched it all from there,” Missy said proudly. “Jonas is such a good horseman. Under his expert care and Carla’s loving feeding and watering, Prince was soon back to his old self.

Within three days of the near tragedy Carla and Prince were galloping all over the farm as if nothing had ever happened!”

2010 Copyright © LongBeard Stories by Susan Bellingan Fourie

Acknowledgements: Jillene Henderson, agraphic, bearcreeknursery, 1^st-art-gallery, horsemanmagazine, kyfireacademy, sanparks.org, getethical, picturesearch, flickr, chescocart.