A Belgian family had a holiday of a lifetime after saving a wild pony from an agonising death at a British beauty spot
Loes Maveau and her family raised the alarm after spotting a pony on the brink of drowning in a deep forest pond.
The young stallion was up to its neck in the pool, which experts described as treacherous.
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It’s unknown how long it had been there.
But luckily, thanks to Loes, who was staying nearby, it was saved in the nick of time.
It happened near Ashurst, Hants, on Monday night (28 Jul).
“We wanted to take a little evening walk, and after a few yards our son Len, nine, pointed at a place down in the woods,” Loes, from Brugge, told Need To Know.
“He had seen something in a dark pool, hidden between the branches.
“We checked closer, and it was a pony chin deep in the very muddy water.
“It struggled to get out and looked exhausted, so we decided to call for help.
“We watched from a distance and were really impressed by thé effort they gave to save the animal from its difficult situation.
“We left around 10 pm because the team warned us they didn’t know what thé outcome would be, we wanted to avoid a drama with the kids.
“We were all very relieved to find out the next morning that the pony had been saved, against our expectations.
“What happened made our last day in the UK very special.”
A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said: “A sharp-eyed family staying at an Ashurst campsite spotted a New Forest pony stuck in a treacherous pond late on Monday night.
“An animal rescue officer and crews from Lyndhurst and Winchester were called to Lyndhurst Road in Ashurst at around 9 pm to find the pony neck deep in water.
“With the support of a New Forest agister, firefighters used mud paths to reach the animal and then release it from the pond using specialist rescue techniques.
“The young and fit pony quickly recovered and was soon back off into the New Forest countryside.
“After cleaning their equipment, firefighters returned to the station shortly after midnight.”
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