A horse managed to revive its stablemate that was about to be put down after her owners tried unsuccessfully to get the animal to its feet in a six-hour operation.

The shire horse, called Beatrice, was found collapsed in its stable after suffering equine colic, which is severe abdominal pain.

Due to the horse's weight and size, the longer the mare remained grounded for the more at risk she was of succumbing to fatal organ failure.

Owners Donald MacIntyre and wife Jane Lipington and four farm workers had repeatedly tried to stand the one tonne horse using a strap tied to a tractor, but it was too heavy.