Rennie Gresham, of Renton Swan & Partners vets' surgery at Duns, was called out on Saturday afternoon after two horses became stuck in mud, with an RAF helicopter needed to rescue one of the animals.

Mr Gresham, a vet in Duns for 28 years, was called out at 5.30pm, a couple of hours after the drama began to unfold.

An RAF Sea King search and rescue helicopter from RAF Boulmer, firefighters, coastguards with specialist mud equipment, two Seahouses lifeboats, local farmers and the RSPCA also battled against the rising tide to save the animals.

The first horse was pulled free from the soft mud at around 4pm, but the other was still sinking deeper into the mud, and the tide was beginning to rise.

The horse's owners, from Hawick, were staying on the mainland at nearby Beal and had ridden across to Holy Island and were returning when one of the horses threw its rider and bolted onto the sands, before it became stuck.

In attempting to rescue it, it is believed that the other horse also became trapped in the soft mud, prompting the mass rescue efforts.

Seahouses inshore lifeboat was called out at just after 3pm to act as a safety boat as local coastguards attempted to free the horses.
Four fire engines also rushed to assist.

An ambulance crew had also made their way to the scene as one of the horse riders had suffered pelvic injuries, although these were not thought to be serious, after being thrown from one of the horses.

With the remaining horse still firmly stuck, the all-weather lifeboat from Seahouses, with additional crew, was also called on to help the rescue efforts, as two of the inshore crew were already in the water with the horse, trying to keep the distressed animal as calm as possible.

It was around this time that Rennie Gresham arrived on the scene, just as the Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer was diverted from another incident to help the rescuers.

Mr Gresham flagged down the helicopter to take him to the horse, as he was unable to wade through the rising tide and soft mud without damaging medicines and equipment, or reach the horse in time.

Mr Gresham was taken on-board the helicopter and heavy lifting equipment was attached to enable the horse to be lifted, as the specialist animal sling was unavailable, before the chopper flew to the scene and hovered overhead.

The horse, not without difficulty, was hooked into the harness as lifeboat crew members tried to keep the horse's head above the rising tide.

However, the first attempt to raise the animal from the mud failed, with the horse slipping out of the lifting equipment just as it was being winched upwards.

After the failed attempt, Mr Gresham was winched down from the helicopter to the horse, to administer a sedative intravenously, to ensure the horse did not move once in the air.

While there, he and the other rescuers rearranged the lifting gear and created a makeshift head collar with rope to try to make sure the horse did not slip out the harness again.

Three hours after the drama began, the helicopter, thanks to great skill from its crew, was able to lift the horse from the flooding mudflats, landing it in a nearby field.

Mr Gresham, was then picked up by the helicopter from the inshore lifeboat and dropped in the field to treat the horse for shock.
Mr Gresham told the Berwickshire News: "It was the last attempt, as once he was sedated he couldn't keep his head up."

He added: "If they dropped it a second time they wouldn't have got a third attempt. As it worked out, without the sedation the horse would have died."

Mr Gresham praised the rescuers involved, in what was a first for most of those there.

He said: "The RAF Boulmer team were extremely professional, and so were the lifeboat guys, and the guys that rescued the first horse did a first class job.

Mr Gresham said that he had spoken to the owners the following morning and was pleased to hear the horse was safely back home with only minor cuts and bruises to show for the incident.