Woman and Her Horse saved from the Quagmire

Nicole Graham was on afternoon ride along the coast in Australia, when her 18 year old horse Astro suddenly sunk into mud.

The woman managed to get out of the mire quickly, and to help another horse her daughter was riding, but Astro was only sinking deeper despite all the efforts it made to free itself.

So Ms. Graham clung at Astro’s neck and held its head above the water level for three hours until the rescue team came.

The rescue operation luckily finished just in time before the tide overflowed the woman and her horse.

The initial attempts to drag Ms. Graham and Astro out of mud with the standard firemen equipment failed. Only the combined efforts of the rescue squad, veterinarians and the pulling force of a tractor borrowed from a local farmer paid off at last.

Ms. Graham, who owns 10 horses, considers this drastic event a miraculous survival.