A horse that spent hours stuck up to its neck in mud in a flooded Christchurch paddock has been rescued by the fire service.
A team of firefighters put planks and sheet of plywood under the horse to give it a chance to breathe and then slowly pulled it to safety using a rope.
The rescuer, firefighter Tony Price, arrived to see the horse in a "quagmire of quicksand" near the Heathcote River on Cashmere Rd.
"There was a big pile of dirt he'd been on in the night, but that had just turned into mud, and he was head-out, that was about all.
"Luckily the neighbour had a little digger and we slowly dug our way in and dragged him out."
The rescue took around 45 minutes, leaving the firefighters covered in mud.
The horse, which was seen coated in mud and shivering violently after the rescue, has been reunited with its owner and is being assessed by a vet.
Watch the video to see the horse reunited with its owner.
Newshub.
