RL
Oscar in the bog
One day I was hacking through the country-side, it was winter, and a grey wet day.
This was a rout I had gone many times, but this time, where some of the hedge-row had died back, I spotted an opening into some woods where I had never been before
I decided to investigate; itâs nice to ride somewhere new after-all.
We proceeded down a small hill, and soon the treeâs thinned out, and I realised it wasnât much of a wood at all.
The area inside was quite open, was eerily silent in there, and not much grew, I thought at the time âwhat a strange placeâ.
We were on flat ground now and some 20 metres from the foot of the bank we had come down.
Oscar seemed to stumble, which is usual for him, heâs quite clumsy at times.
I kicked him on to tell him to pick his feet up, he seemed to stumble again!
âOscar! What are you doing!?â
I leant over his shoulder to look down at what the problem was.
To my horror we were in very deep mud, well up to his knees now.
OMG I completely panicked seeing that.
I tried to turn him back, roughly pulling on my left reign and kicking hard, I shouted at him âBack-up, back-up!â
He tried, but he couldnât, he lurched forward, we sank even deeper, and then again, it was like riding a roller-coaster, sat on this large powerful animal lurching forward with great leaps.
The leaps themselves were not getting us forward much, he was attempting to go up, to leap out of this predicament.
I was precariously unseated by this time, and was lying up his neck, holding on for dear life.
Then everything stopped.
My entire body was on that neck, my head resting just below his right ear.
I looked down, and around at my surroundings.
To my great horror, I realised I was very close to the ground now. My horse had completely sunk!
Roughly four feet in front of us, I saw a small island, my horse must have been attempting to reach it, but failed.
I took the reins and gently slipped from his neck onto my belly, flat out I slithered across the mud and reached for the weeds growing on the island.
It was muddy ground still, but to my relief I didnât sink, it was more solid.
I stood up and surveyed my surroundings.
The island itself was no more than maybe eight feet in diameter, thatâs a rough guess, but it was small.
To the right of this, was boggy again, but for only a short distance, I could see a way out.
It would seem it was only the way we had come was the worst of it.
Although, none of that mattered right now, it was too late, the mistake had been made, and now I may be responsible for killing my horse.
I looked at Oscar, and my heart broke. I couldnât see most of him.
His entire back end had sunk, I could see the bottom of his saddle and my stirrups were lying on the mud.
His shoulders were visible but not his front legs, even worse, I could see two front hooves sticking out before him. The mud must have pushed his front legs up, into a most unnatural position.
If you can imagine a rearing horse, this was now the position Oscar was in, but in mud.
The look in his eyes was hard to bare, and he was completely still, he just stared at me, he knew he was stuck, and had given up.
I began to pull on the reigns and scream at him âGet up! Get up!â
I pulled and I screamed, he wouldnât budge, and made no effort to.
I could also see he was continuing to sink!
I screamed at the sky âsomeone help me!â I screamed for help, I became hysterical in the knowledge I was alone, not only in the country-side, but had left the usual bridle-way.
I was alone, and no-one would come or hear me.
The only other option was to leave Oscar and run for help, this would take some time, perhaps an hour before I could get back.
By which time he would be dead, suffocated slowly, this isnât how I had envisioned my friend leaving the world.
I decided I couldnât leave him, even more astonishing I decided I would rather die with him, than leave him, like I say, I was hysterical.
It was a sad state to be in, and I fully believed we would both be dead very soon.
I wasnât going to leave him, and when the time did come, I would have waded back out, in some desperate attempt to hold his head up from the mud.
Fear did grip my heart, I was petrified.
The only other option was to sit on that island and watch him sink, until nothing was left, the reins slowly being tugged from my hand.
My options were limited, my imagination going into over-drive, although the situation was very real and dangerous.
My hysteria reached a new level, I grew furious at Oscar for giving up, how dare he just lie there!
He was cold and stuck and sinking, but I grew extremely angry.
I began to pull on the reigns horribly and not in the way The British Horse Society may have endorsed! :laugh:
I swore wildly, screamed wildly, told him to âFuc&ing Move!!â
I yanked on the reigns, the bit banging against his teeth, I pulled, I screamed, I swore, I cried
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.
With a great big âPLOPâ sound he came flying at me.
I have no idea how this was physically possible.
Still canât fathom it out.
He didnât thrash around wildly to become unstuck, and then drag himself to that island.
No, he seemed to just âexplodeâ out of that bog and at me!
There was no warning, where did that power come from? As said, his hooves were at an awkward angle, lying below his head.
It was so unexpected and sudden I was thrown back-wards, for one horrible moment there was a second when I thought I was going to fall back-wards into the bog!
The island was extremely small, there was not much room for one very large animal, and me.
He swung round, my arms waved wildly as I tried to regain balance, was like trying not to fall into a swimming pool.
I regained my balance, and found my self looking at his bottom. He stood looking at where I had spotted the way out earlier.
He too now assessing the situation, I totally trusted him not to get back into that bog.
Oscar was loose now, I had let go of the reigns when he came flying at me, and was thrown.
But he didnât panic now, he was looking at the far bank.
I couldnât get to his head, there just wasnât room!
From his bottom I screamed âJump!â
Then again âJUMP!â
Thus happened the 2nd miracle, He did !!
I again was almost knocked back into the bog as his back legs launched himself from the island.
He jumped clear, and stood now on the opposite bank, snorting and frightened. He didnât run away though, he waited for me.
I was still crying but a lot happier âomg Oscar, you did it, you actually jumped!â
Took me awhile to reach him, I jumped to, sank a bit, found something to grab, got up, jumped again, trying to aim for anything that looked solid.
He waited, reigns loose hanging from his head.
I reached him, and hugged him, and told him how sorry I was for my mistake.
I climbed back on him, and got him back to the yard, he was horribley cold, thick mud covering his body.
His bottom is higher than my head, and I am 5âft 6inches tall. I estimate he had sunk some 5ft.
The next day I went to see the estate manager, to warn him, and ask him to cordon off that area.
He knew about the bog, more disturbing, is that last summer when trying to clear that area, they had lost a JCB, it had sunk, that is some indication on how deep it is.
I feel lucky Oscar didnât die, but tremendous guilt I put him there in the first place.
Oh, and miracles can happen. 
