'I took a few layers off and jumped in' - Australian stable worker risks life to rescue loose horse heading into open ocean

A stable worker in Australia demonstrated bravery and quick thinking when rescuing a loose horse who was heading for the open ocean.

Trainer Symon Wilde, who is based in the seaside city of Warrnambool, Victoria, uses beach work at Lady Bay as part of his regime and confirmed one of his horses was involved in a daring water rescue.

Jordyn Billings, who works for Wilde, sprung into action alongside Black Caviar's former trackwork rider Paddy Bell when she realised the gelding was heading for trouble after parting company with its rider and swimming beyond the Warrnambool breakwater.

"It was pretty amazing," Wilde said. "We had a horse at the beach that tripped on a bit of seaweed and the rider slid off the side.

"For whatever reason, he just started swimming straight out to sea. They were watching him and hoping he would turn around but he didn't, he just kept swimming straight out.”

As the horse continued to swim further away, Billings and Bell acquired a fishing boat at the pier and began their rescue operation.

Billings said: "The horse had reached the end of the breakwater, probably 250 metres offshore, and by the time we got out to him, he was another 50 or 60 metres past the breakwater where the waves were.

"It was a big-enough swell for the boat to rock and the motor was upsetting the horse a little bit so we had to do a couple of circles around him.

"We finally got close enough for me to get a lead on to him and I ended up taking a few layers off and jumping in with him.

"I didn't really think much of it, I was just thinking that if he was going to make it, we needed to get him back to shore as quickly as possible.”

'He didn't seem too stressed at all'

Billings added: "I sat on his back with the saddle on until we got into calmer waters and then swam beside him while he swam in the last bit to shore.

"The whole time when I was swimming back in with him, I just made sure that he was breathing calmly and to his credit, he didn't seem too stressed at all.

"He lived to tell the tale, which was the best-possible result."

Billings, who only returned to the racing industry in recent months after a stint in an office job and the birth of her first child, said the fisherman's timely intervention, as well as the horse's solid fitness base, helped ensure a positive outcome.

Jordyn Billings strapping the Symon Wilde-trained beachgoerCredit: Racing.com

"I don't think it would've ended as well as what it did if the fisherman wasn't there, so we were very lucky," she said.

"He was probably in the water swimming for about 15 or 20 minutes and normally when we swim them they're probably only behind the boat for two or three minutes.

"So for him to keep swimming out that far and then swim all the way back with me is just extraordinary to be honest.”

Wilde said he is grateful for Billings' actions, which went above and beyond her remit.

"I don't know that the horse would've survived if she didn't do what she did and she didn't even think twice about it," he said. “The horse probably would've kept going and drowned.

"To be there one morning leading and swimming horses to then, all of a sudden, diving into the ocean out past the breakwater to save one. What an effort."

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