These images show how 41 rescuers saved a horse after it became stuck in a muddy swamp in Germany.

The incident took place in an old arm of the Rur river between the towns of Heinsberg and Wassenberg in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on Tuesday, 1st November, at around 1pm.

Several fire brigades were alerted and went to the scene, with Sebastian Zierke from the Heinsberg fire brigade saying: “It had sunk too deep, only the head was still sticking out of the mud.”

But the rescuers finally managed to get the horse out of the mud using a JCB digger.

Zierke added: “We used the saddle belt to run a hose around its stomach.”

The rescue workers also reportedly had to dig around the animal in order to free it. After two hours, the horse was finally freed from the muddy bog.

A farmer then carefully lifted the horse out of the mud with his wheel loader. Two vets were also reportedly on the scene to oversee the rescue.

Zierke said: “The animal behaved very calmly during the rescue measures.”

But then the rescuers still had to pull the JCB digger away because it had become stuck on the muddy terrain on the slope leading down to the river.

The horse was uninjured in the incident and was escorted back to its stable by its rider after being removed from the muddy bog.