THE owner of a horse that had to be saved from a steep-sided beck in Teesdale last week has thanked everyone who came to its rescue.

Angela Peacock, of Headlam, said her 27-year-old horse, Sam, had only just recovered from the ordeal after getting stuck in the freezing cold water for about three hours last Tuesday (March 10).

Firefighters used muscle-power and carefully placed straps to haul Sam to safety onto a plastic 'slider' sheet on the bank after a vet sedated him in the paddock near Headlam Hall, at 6pm.

A special animal rescue unit from Bishop Auckland was also called together with a further crew from Bishop Auckland and one from Barnard Castle.

“All his legs had swollen up but he’s a lot better and back to his normal self,” Ms Peacock said.

“We all pulled him out and they said they would flip him over and he would get up but he’d been in the water for nearly three hours so when he just stood up I was like ‘oh my god’ and then he was away.”

Ms Peacock has owned Sam since he was four years old and said she wanted to thank all her neighbours who came to help.

“There was about ten or eleven people came to help including villagers and friends,” she added.

“I would just like to thank the fire crews and the animal rescue people and also Swale vets at Richmond and all the friends and everybody in the village that helped.”