THREE Shire horses have been rescued from a bog in Hampshire.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service after the alarm was raised that the animals had become severely stuck in bog in Sherborne St Johns, Basingstoke.

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Horse owner, John Wilson, had gone to check on his horses but he found Lady, 20, Dainty, 14, and Lorraine,19, had all managed to venture out of their usual field and into a bogged area.

Each weighed around 900 kgs and were 17 hands high.

A total of 18 firefighters and three animal rescue specialists worked closely together for several hours to free them from the mud.

All three horses had to be sedated in order to free them safely in a controlled situation as to not distress them further.

Station Manager, Nick Davies said He added, "This was the most difficult animal rescue I have attended in more than 25 years in the Service and was privileged to work with crews willing to place themselves in positions of considerable risk to do what ever was required to resolve the incident successfully".