EMERGENCY services worked together to rescue a horse after it bolted and got into difficulty in the mud on Brean beach.

Burnham-on-Sea Coastguard received a 999 call reporting a horse and two people were stuck on the beach at 6.17pm on Sunday, May 12.

A horse from a charity horse and cart ride managed to slip loose and bolted off along the beach towards the mud with two owners in hot pursuit.

Members of the public were concerned that the two owners and the horse could have been stuck in the mud so when they arrived on the scene the Coastguard’s two mud rescue technicians put their kit on.

BARB Search and Rescue were also called to the scene and attended with their hovercraft but stayed a safe distance away from the horse to avoid spooking it.

A spokesman for Burnham Coastguard, said one of the horse’s owners tried to coax it back in with some feed and it started to make its way along the beach.

“As the horse was making its way along the beach and not out two of our team members quickly threw on their protective equipment and Personal Floatation Devices (PFD) and tried to head the horse off so the owner could catch up with it,” the spokesman said.

“The poor thing was a little nervous and wary of our presence so they stayed lower down to avoid it heading back out towards the mud.

“As it passed them the owner managed to tempt it with some feed.

"This distracted it just long enough so they could grab the reins, regain control of it and walk it back to its box.

“The unpredictable nature of animals means these things can happen in an instant.

"We often find that animals who stray towards the water’s edge will eventually make their way back, please don’t follow them into the mud.

“In this case they were all on a firmer bit of the beach when we arrived but the potential to stray into a soft part in that area means that the danger of becoming stuck was high.

“Thanks to BARB for having their craft at the ready should we need them.

“As always it was a good call from the first informant who dialled 999 and asked for the Coastguard.”