Brea : Volunteers Free Horse Mired to Chest in Mud

A horse that was ridden into an off-limits area of Carbon Canyon Regional Park sank to its chest in mud Sunday morning, but was rescued by about 15 people who tugged him out with a rope.

County park rangers and animal control officers said the horse apparently suffered no injuries--only a scare--when it became trapped about 11 a.m. in an area being used to deposit silt dredged from the park’s man-made lake.

“The guy rode through that area. I think there were two owners, both of them covered from head to toe with mud,” said Sgt. Robert Huebner of the county animal control shelter.

During the one-sided tug-of war through the mud, “the horse was very quiet,” said Senior Park Ranger Cliff Cawood.

Cawood said the horse and its rider, whose name was withheld by park officials, rode into the silt deposit area where signs reading “Danger, do not enter” were posted. “He (the horse) hit a soft spot and just sank. The rider was out of the mud before the first Brea police unit arrived.”

Brea firefighters, police and county rangers and animal control officers--along with some volunteers--tugged for an hour before the horse was safely out of the mud, Cawood said.

“You had maybe his head and part of his saddle sticking out of the mud,” Huebner said wryly. “He was so covered with mud I couldn’t tell what kind of horse it was.”