MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) -- It took a group of firefighters and a tow truck to rescue a retired racehorse that wandered into the wrong pasture, slipped into a drainage ditch and was stuck overnight.
``Grandpa,'' at least 25 years old and a recent arrival at Biringer Farm, somehow fell into a ditch about six feet deep with a foot and a half of water and two feet of mud on Sunday, horse owner Susan Taylor said.
The horse, acquired by Taylor three months ago, is used to give rides to children two days a week at the farm, which features you-pick berries, pumpkins and other crops about 30 miles north of Seattle.
``He just kind of wandered off and was looking around. He likes the other horses, but he's really people-oriented,'' Taylor said. ``The mud was almost like quicksand that held him in. The sides were so steep he couldn't get his footing to get out.''
Grandpa, discovered chest-deep in the mud Monday morning, was too tired from struggling to put up any fuss when rescuers arrived.
Firefighters eased a net under the 1,100-pound horse and hooked it up to a towtruck with a municipal boom truck on hand as well.
``While we were hooking him up, he just laid his head down and looked like he trusted everybody,'' Specialty Towing owner Brad Wall said.
The horse was gingerly lifted into the air and set down in the pasture. He appeared to falter at first but then regained his footing after being given some sugar water.
