A PONY was rescued from a tree after record rain caused flood havoc across the Sydney basin at the weekend.
Nutmeg, an 11-year-old Welsh pony, emerged trembling and traumatised from the swollen flood waters of Cattai Creek, Annangrove, just before 9am.
A flash flood had washed the mare into a tree in the early hours of Sunday morning.
She struggled to keep her head above water for several hours while worried owner Anna looked for her.
A neighbour eventually saw Nutmeg struggling to keep her head above the floodwater, trapped by the tangling branches of a tree.
"The water came up so fast it pushed her into the tree and she couldn't get out," said the neighbour.
State Emergency Service volunteer Ray Marvin, 45, said the rescue was easy once they got a rope around the exhausted pony's neck.
They could then pull her away from the tree and steer her to shore.
Her owner stood on the shore, weeping as her pet nervously cropped the grass. "We're just so happy; so, so happy. Our concern now is to get her home," Anna said.
