Dave Heisler got an unexpected early-morning call from his Dunbarton, N.H., neighbor: four of his horses had broken loose and wandered onto the neighbor’s property, less than a quarter mile away.
After midnight, a tree branch crashed down on the fence holding Heisler’s horses on his Everett Road property, giving the animals a chance to slip away in the night.
Three of the horses made their way to the neighbor’s driveway.
But one, a brown Suffolk Punch draft horse named Doc, wasn’t so lucky. He stepped into a marsh where the soft ground gave way beneath him.
The 1,500-pound horse sank deep into the muck and became stuck.
When Heisler went over there, it became clear to him that he could not free Doc on his own.
“I noticed his head was kind of close to the waterline. The only thing keeping him out of the mud further was his build,” said Heisler. “I don’t think the horse was getting out on his own.”
That was when Heisler’s neighbor, who is a veterinarian, quickly called the fire department for help.
Louis “Bud” Marcou, deputy chief of the Dunbarton fire department, said Doc was mired in three to four feet of heavy, marshy mud, and the heavy rain that morning only made the situation worse.
Doc’s legs had sunk so deeply into the mud that he had nothing solid to brace against, leaving him powerless to lift himself out.
“He just got so exhausted, and he just couldn’t self-rescue,” Marcou said. “He was in the mud, up to midline on its body.”
The horse tried to stand but couldn’t because the ground beneath it was too soft.
It took about three hours and nine people — including Heisler, the neighbors, and the fire department — to pull him free.
At first, despite everyone’s strength and determination, they didn’t have enough leverage. Doc was trapped in the deepest part of the marsh, far from the edges, which made the rescue even more difficult.
To help, Heisler grabbed some plywood and other makeshift materials for the rescuers to stand on, because they were sinking up to their hips in the mud as well.
“It was miserable. Everyone was in mud, head to toe,” said Marcou. “ There was no getting dry.”
Eventually, the team used the winch on the rescue truck. They carefully wrapped a fire hose around Doc to protect him as they slowly and cautiously slid him out of the muck.
Finally, the exhausted 18-year-old horse was able to stand.
Mutual aid from nearby Weare also assisted in the rescue.
“The fire department was the reason the horse is alive today,” said Heisler. “Otherwise, I would have been digging a hole in my yard.”
Heisler has had Doc since he was less than a year old, and over the years, they’ve developed a unique bond.
During the rescue, whenever Heisler went back home to fetch tools, Doc grew restless and boisterous.
Marcou noted that while the Dunbarton Fire Department has rescued many horses over the years, this particular rescue was especially challenging because of the weather.
After Doc was freed, Heisler’s neighbors offered to keep him in their stall, but the other three horses wouldn’t stop neighing. So Doc was returned to his own property, where he was given hay and a blanket.
Heisler was deeply thankful to the fire department and said they even checked on Doc the next morning.
Even though Doc was back in his stall and dry, Heisler said the hours leading up to morning were full of stress — until he saw that Doc had a bowel movement, an unmistakable signal that all was well.
“I was like a 12-year-old kid who just got a bicycle for my birthday, so I was very happy about that,” he said. “Then I knew things were going to go the right way.”
