TWO fire crews from Hatherleigh and Chulmleigh were called to assist in the rescue of a large four-year-old Clydesdale horse stuck in a slurry pit in Dolton, near Beaford on January 8.

Owner Charly Doran went to check on the horse, named ‘Chancellor’, at 11.30am. He had been in the field five hours previous but upon Charly’s arrival he was nowhere to be seen.

Charly said: “I knew he hadn’t been taken as we have CCTV at the only access point — so I set to looking for him. I searched on my own for over 12 hours — in the woods, in the ditches, into the evening.”

Charly said she finally stopped hunting for the night when she took a phone call from her friend who was as worried as she was, and only then was alarmed to find it was 2.30am. She and her mother resumed their search at first light.

“My mum found him just after 9am,” said Charly. “He was in a disused slurry pit. I was certain I’d looked there the night before, but he must have been hidden by the muck heap.”

Although the disused slurry pit wasn’t in the same field Chancellor was kept in, Charly said she believes he may have been cornered by other ponies and had broken through the fence and rough bramble hedge leading to him becoming stuck in the mucky, watery mess.

Chancellor is a very calm horse, used by Charly for dressage. This may lead people to believe he is a slight sports horse, however Chancellor is a Clydesdale — a draft horse breed, with a tall stature. People may be surprised that he would have been bullied into the slurry pit by other ponies. However, Charly believed it is his size that ultimately helped save him from the slurry pit.

Charly said: “I actually think his size and youth helped to save him. Being so tall he was able to keep his head up. But not being fully grown meant he was only 700kg and therefore didn’t sink much lower.”

Despite not being fully grown, rescuing an animal Chancellor’s size did take a heavy duty telehandler, two fire crew from Hatherleigh and Chulmleigh, the Special Rescue Unit from Barnstaple and a vet. At one time the trapped horse was surrounded by 16 people — but Charly said he was surprisingly calm all the way through.

When Penbode equine vet Emily Tillett arrives, the rescue team had already passed strops under Chancellor’s belly and were preparing to pull him out. The team laid out dome plastic to make it easier to slip the horse onto and his head was covered to protect his eyes.

Emily and the rescue team agreed when they were ready to evacuate the horse that she would sedate him to ensure none of the team got kicked as he was pulled out — this would also be done to stop him trying to stand after being up to his withers in the slurry pit for the best part of 24 hours.

It took almost five hours to rescue the horse. Once Chancellor was standing, Emily was able to tube him with warm water and electrolytes as it was likely he could have been dehydrated and at risk of impaction which could have led to colic. They were then able to wash and dry his legs which were then bandaged in fleece.

Charly said she is eternally grateful to the fire crews, friends, family, local farmer and Emily for their work in saving Chancellor.

And as for Chancellor, the first thing he tried to do after being pulled from the quagmire was snatch a mouthful of grass of course. Thanks to the team effort by the various services Chancellor was trotting up sound a week after his exciting and soggy night.