Isabel Hurley

A NEWLY foaled mare is recovering well this week after being saved from certain death when she became trapped in a deep bog hole in a Waterford field.

As these dramatic pictures show, the exhausted mare was stuck up to her neck in deep mud in the Butlerstown area outside Waterford City last Thursday.

The successful rescue of the horse by Waterford Animal Welfare and Waterford Fire Service struck a chord with the public at large, with almost 2,000 hits on social media.

Senior assistant chief fire officer with Waterford Fire Service, Tony Murphy, told The Irish Field: “We work closely with Waterford Animal Welfare on cases like this. The horse fell into a deep bog hole in the field and the animal was quite tired with a young foal nearby. A veterinary surgeon was on hand to sedate the horse, with the slings in position, we used a controlled winch to raise the animal out. Everyone was delighted to see a successful outcome to this case as it could have been different.”

The stricken mare’s plight was discovered purely by chance by a man out walking his dogs.

He alerted Waterford Animal Welfare and Andrew Quinn of the volunteer organisation, who is also a Waterford fireman, quickly arrived on the scene and also found the mare’s colt foal, estimated to be only about a week old, distressed and hungry nearby.

Andrew’s son Michael and daughter Aisling Whelan, who is a welfare officer with Waterford Animal Welfare, both arrived to help, the latter with the large animal rescue unit equipment. In a joint operation, Waterford Animal Welfare, combined with Waterford Fire Service crews from Waterford and Tramore as well as a veterinary surgeon, worked together to put a plan in place to free the trapped mare, a process which took over an hour.

“It was a deep bog hole in what looked like a normal big field. The mare was stuck up to her neck in thick mud. It’s hard to say how long she was trapped there but she was exhausted and her foal was very hungry,’’ said Aisling Whelan. Andrew, who trained in Britain in large animal rescue, was able to put that experience into practice. Fire crew members had to get into the sinkhole with the horse in order to get the slings around her and after being sedated by the veterinary surgeon on hand, the mare was carefully winched out.

“It took a while for the horse to come around. She was very cold and hungry. There seemed to be damage done to the muscles around her pelvis. Both mare and foal were in very good condition generally, they were not neglected. We took her to the sanctuary to help her recover and in the last week, both have done well weight wise.

“It’s very important that people check grazing horses in fields every day. Any dangerous areas like this should be fenced off,’’ advised Whelan.

Waterford Animal Welfare are currently seeking the owner of the mare and foal to come forward. Waterford Animal Welfare is a 24-hour seven-day service and as this rescue shows, they can certainly handle all creatures great and small.