Bogs

[Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>]

Had a gelding & a mare walk out onto what appeared to be a flat area of
dirt, but which was a crust over a silted-up pond that was now solid
mud.  The mare, being heavier, broke through sooner, was closer to the
edge & so could reach the solid bottom - she struggled out on her own.
The gelding, lighter in weight, got farther out onto the crust & his
feet couldn't touch the bottom.  We had to sling him, just behind his
elbows.  Was very tricky, cause if you pull out at a wrong angle, you
can disjoint limbs - since it's not water but mud, it's got LOTS of
resistance!  The interesting part was that after about 15 minutes,
perhaps because of the coldness of the mud or just that the horse was
trapped, he just gave up & started going into shock.  The fire truck
arrived just then (lucky!) and the good part was that we were able to
crawl over the horse's body (that's another problem - rescuers not
getting stuck in the same boggy/muddy place) and dig around under him to

get the rope around him.  He got out, laid there a second, then hopped
up, walked away & started grazing!

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                                    ____________
Lif & Paul Strand   STRAND ENTERPRISES   www.fasterhorses.com
   Want to sell horses but not those 2 even if they were stupid
                       Quemado, NM  USA