Beach panic in race against tide to save horse stuck in mud
Rex
A woman's horse ride along a beach in Australia turned to panic this week after the pair suddenly plunged into an area of sinking mud - and had to race against the tide to break free.
Nicole Graham said she and daughter Paris, seven, set off on Avalon Beach in Geelong, Victoria, at noon but, without warning, she sunk up to her waist in thick, smelly muck.
Rex
Show horse Astro was stuck neck-deep in thick mud at Avalon Beach on Corio Bay for three hours - as the tide inched closer.
Rescue crews first tried to pull the 18-year-old, 500kg horse free with fire hoses, and then a winch before a vet turned up to sedate Astro and pull him clear with a tractor.
The crew knew by 5pm the tide would have come all the way in. But with minutes away until the waters would have risen around him, Astro was being dragged up on to solid ground.
Vet Stacey Sullivan helped the horse get back up on his feet after his sedation injection started to wear off.
Rex
And owner Nicola was obviously ecstatic.
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