While her daughter called rescue services, Nicole Graham held her trapped horse and kept its head out of the mud for more than three hours. During all that time, she tried to calm it down, but was terrified that it would drown if it wasn’t freed quickly…

Anyone who has ever been to the sea knows that it can be unpredictable. One thing you should never underestimate is the tide; it can be treacherous if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. The tide can surprise and swallow people and animals in seconds, and in some cases, it can lead to a slow and cruel death.That’s exactly what almost happened to an 18-year-old horse named Astro. Astro’s owner, Nicole Graham, and her daughter were riding on the beach near Geelong, south of Melbourne, Australia.

After a while, the horses found themselves in the soft sand, and the ground beneath them turned into a deadly, muddy trap. Nicole’s daughter and her horse managed to escape, but she and Astro sank deeper into the mud. Nicole spent three hours alongside Astro in a fight for survival.

The longer Astro stayed in the mud, the more desperate the situation became. Meanwhile, Nicole had to keep her 450 kg horse still to prevent it from sinking deeper into the mud. After three hours, Astro was close to suffocating and in danger of dying, both from thirst and exhaustion. In addition, the tides were rising.