ANIMAL trainer Lisa Kingston is no stranger to helping horses who find themselves in difficult situations.She has spent years working in the film industry preparing the four-legged creatures for some of the best known animal movies, including The Horse Whisperer and Black Beauty.

ANIMAL trainer Lisa Kingston is no stranger to helping horses who find themselves in difficult situations.

She has spent years working in the film industry preparing the four-legged creatures for some of the best known animal movies, including The Horse Whisperer and Black Beauty.

But her skills were really put to the test when she stopped to help a horse which had fallen into a deep waterlogged ditch.

Miss Kingston, 33, of Fakenham Magna, near Bury St Edmunds, was on her way home with fiancé Macgregor Muirwhen she noticed a horse and cart coming towards her in the opposite direction.

All of a sudden the horse, called Demi, became startled when she caught sight of some sheep close to the road in Santon Downham, near Thetford.

“She panicked and started to back up along the road, but went so far that she ended falling down a ditch,” said Miss Kingston.

Demi's owner, Amy Last, managed to jump off the cart just in time but was unable to stop the animal from plunging backwards into the ditch.

Without thinking, Miss Kingston got out of her car and jumped down into the ditch to get to the horse.

“The bog was full of black sludge and it was quite deep, but my first concern was to get the cart and harness off the horse,” she said.

“When horses are trapped they instinctively give up after a while and I was worried this would happen to Demi, so I tried my hardest to keep her calm and kept rubbing her to keep her warm.”

Miss Kingston, along with other motorists who had stopped to help, eventually managed to get a strap under the frightened animal and haul her out with the use of a truck and winch.

Demi was taken to a nearby vets to be checked over, but is thought to have escaped unharmed.

“When I got out of the ditch Amy threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug. Demi was very frightened but was okay and I am glad that I was able to help,” she said.