Nicole Graham from Melbourne, Australia owns 10 horses. One afternoon, she and her daughter Paris went for a horse ride when the animals suddenly got stuck in mud. Nicole somehow managed to release her daughter’s horse, while the other one, Astro, who weights around 900 lbs, couldn’t be released.

Sadly, as she was struggling to help the already exhausted animal, he got stuck even further. All Nicole could do at that point was to stay by Astro’s side and made sure she kept him calm until help arrived.

She stayed by the 17-year-old horse’s side for over three hours. Finally, help arrived and she felt relived.

In order to be able to bring the big animal to safety was to give him some sedatives so that they could attach a harness to him for a tractor to pull him over. Luckily, the rescue mission was successful.

Speaking of the incident, Nicole was reported to have told The Geelong Advertiser: “It was terrifying. It was also heartbreaking to see my horse exhausted and struggling. I’ve been riding here for 20 years and never had a drama. I’ve never seen any signs and didn’t realize it was so boggy.”

One of the firefighters who was part of the rescue mission described the mud as quicksand. Stacey Sullivan, the vet who treated Astro of dehydration and sore muscles, praised Nicole and said: “A lot of horses don’t make it and I think without the owner there the chance of survival would have been a lot lower.”

You can take a look at the dramatic yet incredible rescue in the video below.