Brigade volunteers rescue horse and humans in busy few hours

Volunteers help rescue Wizard the horse from the mudflats. Photo/supplied

Rescuing a woman with a dislocated hip and a horse stuck in mud flats was all in a day's work for volunteers from the Athenree and Waihi Beach fire stations.

Brigade fire chief Peter Harwood said it was a diverse 24 hours over the weekend, starting with an alarm going off at the Waihi Beach Hotel on Friday night. It turned out to be faulty sensor in the kitchen.

Next up was a high-speed crash at the intersection of SH2 and Athenree Rd on Saturday morning. The occupants of both cars emerged virtually unscathed.

A few hours later, just after midday, they rescued an Athenree woman in her 50s who had slipped on a Bowentown walking track and appeared to have dislocated her artificial hip.

She was put into a Stokes basket, a plastic board moulded up the sides, and placed in the Athenree brigade's ute. She was then transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to Tauranga Hospital.

The final call was mid-afternoon on Saturday when a 19-year-old retired dressage horse called Wizard got stuck as he was being walked by owner Christine Farrand along mudflats between Athenree and the Bowentown spit.

Mr Harwood said the horse hit a soft spot in the mud about 80m offshore, and with all its weight bearing down on narrow hooves, it sank deeper and deeper as it struggled to free itself.

The horse's age meant it fatigued and ran out of energy. With the tide coming in, brigade volunteers slipped a board under the collapsed horse, attached a rope and began dragging it towards shore next to Koutunui Rd.

Once it was close to shore, a tractor took over and hauled the horse on to a lawn where a vet was waiting to treat the exhausted animal. The horse seemed to have survived its ordeal, so it was a case of all's well that ends well, he said.

Mrs Farrand said it was quite dramatic as they raced the tide to get Wizard to safety after a couple of hours stuck in the mud. At one point, when all his energy was sapped and he was lying down, his eyes glazed over and it looked like he had given up.

Wizard pictured with owner Christine Farrand. Photo/supplied

She said that once Wizard was back on dry land, he was very shaky in getting back on to his legs. About half an hour later, he was starting to eat grass. ''Fortunately, he is driven by food.''

Wizard's hind legs were quite swollen around the area of the hocks, indicating possible muscle and tendon damage.