Round 'em up

Rescuers on horseback lured a herd of about 100 horses off a mud-soaked knoll where they had been stranded for three days, and led them through receding floodwaters to safe ground Friday.

Before the rescue, 19 horses drowned or died of exposure from the days and nights on the earthen mound that was turned into an island during a storm Tuesday night.

The plight of the horses has riveted the country, which followed rescue attempts on television and in newspapers after the storm surge pushed sea water into the wilderness area outside the dikes of Marrum, a town 145 kilometres northeast of Amsterdam.

Four women on horseback guided the animals back, and the entire herd - except one horse - followed without hesitation.
The remaining horse was led back later, escorted by riders. It collapsed after reaching shore, and was being attended to by veterinarians.

Earlier in the day, firefighters and animal welfare officers had carefully mapped out the return route.

The storm lifted the North Sea waters as much as four metres above normal. Three days later water was less than a metre deep in most flooded fields, but up to two metres where they are crisscrossed with drainage channels.

Marrum's fire department floated or ferried around 20 horses, including the smallest foals, to safety with the help of small boats Wednesday, but rescue efforts later stalled.

Dutch television and newspapers showed dramatic images of the horses huddled together, their backs to the wind that was whipping up small waves in water surrounding their isolated island.

Marrum's mayor, Wil van den Berg, said helicopters were ruled out, as the noise and lights might have panicked the animals and caused more to drown.

The Netherlands' Party for the Animals said it has filed a complaint against the horses' owner and the operator of the wilderness area where they were stranded, since the national weather service had put the country on alert for rising floodwaters early Tuesday.

The Agriculture Ministry ordered an investigation.