A horse was rescued by firefighters when it got trapped up to its neck in deep water – after it got swept into a canal by a raging flood.
The hapless animal was washed into the 5ft-deep canal in a freak accident after a torrential downpour on Sunday afternoon.
Onlookers watched in horror as the horse struggled to scramble out of the steep-sided brick waterway as the current threatened to drag it under the surface.
Firefighters spent 40 minutes calming the horse down before hauling it to safety by lassoing two ropes around its neck and coaxing it to the edge of the canal.
Lettings agent Wayne Morris, 46, captured the rescue in the Birmingham Canal in Coseley, near Wolverhampton, West Mids., as he drove home.
He said: “It is definitely not something you see every day, that’s why I got out of the car to have a look.
[half]
[/half]
[half]
[/half]
“The horse seemed frightened so the firemen removed their hats and just tried to keep it calm.
“No-one was sure what had happened.
“The horse had seemed to come from the field near the houses as there was another horse there as well.
“It must have just been swept into the canal. The rain had been very heavy which caused a slippery mud slide from the field.
“When the firemen finally got the horse onto the bank everyone cheered.”