Dog walker wades into deep water to save horse

A heroic dog walker waded into neck-deep water to save a stranded horse, after a river burst its banks.

Cold water

Richard Lane was out with his dog Sam along the River Nene in Northamptonshire when he saw a piebald mare struggling in deep water. The 60-year-old bravely waded into the water in a bid to save her.

“The water came right up to my neck, I can’t tell you how cold it was,” Richard told the Northampton Chronicle. “I did think for someone my age, I shouldn’t be doing this.”

The mare had been tethered with a chain, which was weighing her down in the water. Richard tried to lift the chains and pull the stump out of the ground, but both proved too heavy.

“All the time I kept looking round the river was flowing quite heavily,” he said.

Coax with carrots

Richard eventually managed to get the harness over her head, to free her. He was then able to coax her onto dry land, using a bag of carrots he had taken on his walk to feed the horses which graze there.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue arrived shortly after the rescue.