The Otaki horse, trapped by rising river levels, had to be rescued by helicopter.

It was lucky they tied Ali Sutherland to the side of the river.

Otaki River was a rapidly rising torrent and she would have dived in - forgetting her own safety - as her horse Poppy dipped below the waterline.

The owner of the horse rescued from flash floods on Friday has spoken about huddling in a "bubbling mess" of a river with Poppy, then sleeping the night in the paddock with the animal after her ordeal.

ADAM POULOPOULOS Rescuers hold Poppy the horse's head above water as they wait for the helicopter to arrive.

Sutherland was on her way to work when she got a call that Poppy, a 2-year-old "gorge horse" was trapped in the river in Otaki Gorge - near the town north of Wellington.

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* Horse rescued from raging river

The call after 8am was the start of rescue effort including the SPCA's National Rescue Unit and a raft of emergency services that eventually saw the horse flown from the river with seconds to spare.

Wellington SPCA Poppy receives emergency care after being flown out of the Otaki River on Friday.

On Friday, Sutherland drove straight home to the gorge and confirmed the horse stranded in the river was Poppy, who must have taken a tumble down the steep bank from a nearby paddock.

The first problem was that Poppy, still a young horse, had never been led before - but she had to be shifted, and quickly, to the highest ground on the river.

"The river was rising really quick, and my path to get to the next highest point was getting smaller and smaller, so it was me pushing and pulling trying to make her move."

Eventually she was able coax the horse to the last raised spot of gravel on the rapidly climbing river.

"Her and I blanketed up together and huddled in."

The river current was powerful, she said, with logs gliding past in what was a "big brown bubbling mess".

Sutherland spent hours with the horse in the river as a veterinarian and animal rescue technicians worked out how to save her.

Steve Glassey, Wellington SPCA chief executive, said the river was too turbulent and rising too quickly to float Poppy downstream. The riverbank was too steep to climb out.

He said they quickly realised the only way out for the horse was "vertically", so they called in a helicopter from a Wellington company.

"It doesn't get more critical or hazardous than this. Large animals, flood water and helicopters are a complicated mix at the best of times, but this rescue was down to the wire with the horse beginning to become submerged due to the rapidly rising river just as the cable was flown into position to safely evacuate Poppy to the landing site."

As the final moments of the rescue took place, Sutherland was sent back to shore.

"I'd been in there with her the whole time then because of all the safety stuff they'd actually harnessed me to the side of the bank."

It was good that they did, Sutherland said, because when the sedated horse went under the water "I was going to jump right on in".

Instead the rescuers in the water held the animal's head out of the river while the helicopter arrived.

At about 1.30pm, Poppy was lifted out of the water then flown to a nearby paddock where she was set down on her side and treated by vets.

Sutherland said the horse took in a lot of water at the end of the rescue: she was hypothermic and struggling to breathe.

Poppy was down for 12 hours after her rescue, and Sutherland and friends held a "night vigil" with her - keeping her warm with hot water bottles, blankets and hay.

Sutherland said the horse "almost gave up" several times during the night, but at about 1am Poppy struggled upright, onto her hooves, and her owner knew she would be alright.

Then, after a very long day, Sutherland could start to relax - but not completely.

"About three in the morning I got in my sleeping bag and curled up in the hay. I could hear her whenever she moved, and I'd open my eye. I didn't really sleep."

ANIMAL RESCUERS

Poppy's rescue was a multi-agency operation including the SPCA's National Rescue Unit, Massey University's Veterinary Emergency Response Team, Palmerston North Rescue Emergency Support Team, Wellington Helicopters, Kapiti Coast District Council animal control and police.