Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is warning horse owners across Swindon and Wiltshire to beware of ditches, ponds and any waterway after two separate incidents in the county within ten days of each other, involving trapped horses that had to be rescued.

The first incident occurred in the morning of Monday, October 15, when fire crews from Trowbridge, Melksham and Devizes attended a call to a horse trapped in a ditch in a field at Worton, near Devizes.

An 11-year-old TB bay mare called Gerty was found lying exhausted in a ditch by owner Becky Ormond, at around 9am in the morning. She called the fire and rescue service immediately.

The ditch was about three feet deep and with a few feet of water, one steep bank and one sloping bank, from where the mare and her companions had been drinking water for more than seven years with no problems.

Gerty was lying in the ditch with her head on the bank when her owner found her and had been there for some time, as there were indications she had tried to climb out for some way along the ditch; however, the banks were slippery from the mud and this proved impossible. 12 firefighters attended the rescue, together with vet Dorothy Joyce and assistant Hayley Mayton-Jones, from Paddock Veterinary Practice, Eastcott. Attempts were made to pull her out by ropes attached to her head, then by using airbags to place strops (heavy duty webbing straps) under the horse, so she could be winched out, but this was impossible as she was so tightly wedged in the mud.

Local farming contractor Ed Bodman worked with the fire crews to place strops around her chest and lifted her up and clear of the ditch using his tractor with a mechanical lifting device.

Gerty has been checked by a physiotherapist and has some damage to her back muscles, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Owner Becky Ormond said: I am so relieved that Gerty has come out of this safely and I would really like to thank the local fire crews, the vet and Ed Bodman, for their kindness, persistence, professionalism and efficient help'.

Becky is now planning to fence off the ditch, leaving a small area for the horses to drink from.

At almost the same time in the morning exactly ten days later, on Thursday, October 25, fire crews from Westlea and Swindon attended a farm in Tockenham, following an emergency special service call where a horse had fallen into a ditch and become trapped.

The ditch was not easily-accessible, running between hedges. The 33-year-old chestnut gelding had somehow got through a small gap and then found himself trapped and unable to climb out due to the bushes on either side.

Efforts were made to rescue him using webbing strops and a tractor as a crane and he was eventually released from the ditch and examined by a vet, but sadly, it was decided to put him to sleep.

His owners are understandably devastated.

Gus Cuthbert, director of Communities for Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: I would like to appeal to all horse owners in the county to check their fields and paddocks to ensure that all ditches, waterways and even small ponds are not easily-accessible to horses and ponies, especially during the winter when the banks tend to become more slippery.

If the animals need to use the waterways to drink from, a small area, with dug-out banks, should be fenced accordingly to allow access.

Hardcore can also be placed to enable a firmer surface. Horses are heavy animals and it is both difficult and dangerous to manoeuvre such a large animal in slippery and wet conditions when they are trapped, and possibly even panicking.

Any steps that can be taken to prevent incidents like this happening should be considered'.