After 900-pound horse becomes trapped in muck for 3 hours the rider stays by his side

A young woman spent more than 3 hours near her pet horse after the huge beast got stuck in the mud. Eventually, the horse was rescued after a race against time, as the sea was rising quickly. In the beginning, the heroic mother managed to save both her daughter and the other horse.

The trip of this mother-daughter team and their 2 horses quickly turned into a nightmare. Nicole Graham was riding 17-year-old Astro and her daughter Paris on a smaller horse when the huge beasts got bogged down in the mud.

Astro struggled to get out, and his desperate attempts to free himself only drowned more. So his owner clung to him, trying to calm him down while his young daughter Paris sought help. The girl went to their car, from where she was able to call for help. In the meantime, her mother stayed by Astro’s side.

By the time the rescue team arrived, both the horse and its owner were exhausted. But luckily, they were able to get Astro out to safety by putting him to sleep beforehand. The experience was terrifying for Graham, who owns ten horses.

«It was terrifying. The sight of my horse toiling and exhausted really upset me,» the woman told the Geelong Advertiser newspaper. Every time I moved, the dirt pulled me back because it was everywhere. It wouldn’t let us leave.»

Thanks to the efforts of the fire team, which included a veterinarian and a local farmer, the horse was saved. Fortunately, Astro was just dehydrated, not injured.

«It was a race against the current, and luckily we won,» said Fire Department Lt. Roger Buckle. «It was like quicksand.»

Veterinarian Stacy Sullivan thanked owner Nicole Graham for saving the horse’s life. «A lot of horses don’t survive, and I think if the owner hadn’t been there, the chances of survival would have been much lower,» she said.