A recent trail ride in Upper Freehold, New Jersey almost turned disastrous for a standardbred gelding named Oz The Great and Dominika Nawrot, a member of the Standardbred Retirement Foundation
.
According to a blog post by Nawrot, she had decided to turn around and go home after the 22-kilometre trip when Oz The Great fell into trouble. After crossing through a creek and checking the state of the grounds which lay ahead, 'Ozzy' sank quite deeply into mud.
'The ground all looked the same... flat, covered in leaves, and dotted with logs. I walked ahead, poking the ground with my boot as I went. It all seemed fine. I didn't sink, not even an inch. Unfortunately, my method was flawed. Ozzy weighs a lot more than I do.
'Suddenly, Ozzy's front end sank. His legs were slipping and sliding and he got a panicky look in his eye. "Don't panic," I gave a verbal command he knows. I reserve it for the really rough times when I REALLY need him to take a deep breath and focus. He froze. "Back... back, back, back," I tugged his reins.
'He tried to back up, but it was too late. His forelegs were up to his knees and sinking fast. Before I could react, he was chest deep in sticky, clay-based mud. His hind end was still on pretty solid ground, but I could see that it wouldn't last if he started to churn. I tried to cue him to lay down... like we used to do... but he wasn't sure. He did eventually lie down, but only after a third leg had slurped down into the muck.'
Nawrot explains in her blog entry that the fire department had to be called to aid in the ordeal which took hours.
With the help of many, Ozzy eventually emerged from his mucky situation.
Nawrot's blog -- which also contains a bevy of photos from the ordeal -- explains the situation in detail.
To read the blog and view all of the pictures, click here.