Stuck in the swamp

[Lisa]

Yesterday morning, I put my two Percherons in a new paddock bounded on one side by a swamp. They’ve been in here before and have nibbled on the greenery but it hadn’t ever been a problem. When I got back from a dump trip, all the critters on the farm were telling me that there was a problem, and where. My sheep and cows were all down by the edge, calling out. Both horses were about 20 feet out in the swamp, and the mare (Pearl) was down in the water, with only the back of her back, her neck and her head above water, stuck.

Home alone (of course), I tried all sorts of things. She’d struggle until she was tired, over and over, but couldn’t break the suction. I was very lucky that she was really calm about it all. I was going to rig something like a rope from one to the other when I noticed that my gelding’s (Prince’s) head was close enough to Pearl’s and he had good footing, so I clipped his halter to her halter. He stood rock still and she pulled against him. I stuck both my feet under her flank at the same time and heard a massive whoosh as the suction broke and she stood up.

I’m really glad the halter didn’t break!

Anyway. Scary. We’re going to run a hot wire around that edge this weekend, obviously.

[Rod]

That was a good story and must have been kind of hairy. It’s impressive that your gelding just stood there and let the mare pull herself out and that she knew enough to pull against him to free herself. Some of these animals can be so smart when they need to be, the rest of the time I sometimes think they just let us act like we are the smart ones.

[Ed Thayer]

Glad to hear that worked out for you.

Our neighbor had a runaway get stuck in a swamp a couple of years ago and after locating the horse, it took us six hours and a tractor with a winch on it to retrieve her. Then we loaded her into a loader bucket filled with sawdust and tranported back home.

Needless to say that horse was put down days later.

[Lisa]

I’ve got a really good foot print on my thigh from where she stepped on me. I could see it was going to happen because of where I had my boots to try to help break the suction, but just let her do it anyway. I was just so glad it was working and didn’t want to move.

They’ve stayed real clear of the swamp since then I’m happy to report. They are even drinking from a feeder creek rather than walking down the hill to the swamp.

[jen judkins]

That’s a great story, Lisa. I would have taken the beating too…anything to get her out! Good for you!

[Anonymous]

Wow, Lisa – good for you to get her out! It’s scary when your animals do things like that. Good thing she knew to push against you and her buddy! Congratulations!
Dionne

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