It was a very happy ending to a nightmare of a day when 18-year old Astro was rescued — uninjured — after spending three hours in quicksand like mud. Nicole Graham and her daughter were riding on a beach in Melbourne, Australia, when suddenly their horses started to sink. Nicole helped her daughter get her horse out of the mud but Astro, Nicole’s horse was stuck and sinking.

For three hours Nicole waited with her horse, first trying to extract him, then trying to keep him calm until help arrived, all the while hoping the tide didn’t come in. Her bond with her horse is clearly visible; without his owner there, Astro would not have stayed so calm and might have continued to struggle.

With the help of a farmer and a tractor Astro was eventually freed from the mud and, besides struggling with fatigue and dehydration, he was fine.