When an underweight and afraid Clydesdale horse living in bush in Tasmania's deep south was unwilling to get into a float, her rescuer had another idea: walk her 40 kilometres up a highway to her new home.
It all started when farmhand Michael 'MJay' Edgerton responded to an online advertisement asking for help in cleaning up a property post-sale at Glendevie.
After he helped to relocate some goats due to local flooding, the owner mentioned to Mr Edgerton that a Clydesdale was living out the back, across a creek and on a steep bit of bush.
When the floodwaters subsided, Mr Edgerton was able to find Hazel.
"When I found her, it was actually quite traumatising," Mr Edgerton said.
"I could see all of her ribs, her hips sticking out … I checked her coat and it was full of lice, she had ticks.
"[She was] foraging as little grass as there was around … from evidence around the property, I could also see she had been chewing on bark from logs on the ground to get some roughage in her diet."
RSPCA Tasmania confirmed that officers had attended the property multiple times.
With the permission of the property owner, Mr Edgerton was given written approval from the RSPCA to relocate Hazel to a farm property that he worked on near Huonville.
But she was too scared to get into a float despite two attempts, including with the help of local police officers.
After a week of feeding her and helping her regain strength, Mr Edgerton had an idea.
"I was like, we don't have time to train Hazel to [get into a] float, so I just had to get her out of there," he said.
"I decided one night that I was going to load up with water and food for both of us, and we walked."
Snacks and rest stops along the way
They set off from Glenlevie at 5.30pm last Sunday, just as the sun was setting, with Hazel wearing reflective strips on her coat.
They walked along the edge of the Huon Highway, then headed for Huonville from Geeveston.
"We had to have many rest stops because I didn't want to totally exhaust Hazel or myself," Mr Edgerton said.
"What would normally be a six to eight-hour walk, actually was a 14-hour walk because we just had to make lots of stops and make sure that Hazel had snacks and water along the way as well."
Their journey did not go unnoticed.
"A few people did actually stop at the start of our journey on their way home from work to say, 'you alright mate?' I was like,' yeah we're fine, we're just going for a walk'," Mr Edgerton said.
"A few people [called] out from their house, 'you OK mate?', because it's not something you see every day, someone walking their horse of a night."
As the sun started to rise at Franklin, the pair stopped on the side of the road for breakfast. Hazel helped herself to some grass at a local park.
At 8am, they arrived at the farm.
Bush foray friendship forged
A week later, Hazel's ribs are no longer pronounced and she approaches people on the farm eagerly, like any other Clydesdale.
They received a delivery of donated hay on Sunday, and a hoof trimmer from Hobart's north is planning to visit this week to treat her hooves, free of charge.
Mr Edgerton said he and Hazel had formed a close relationship.
"I have actually dealt with horses before [but] this is the first time I've actually handled a Clydesdale. It's been beautiful since," he said.
"Our relationship has actually become quite friendly, and I quite love it."
Discussions are ongoing between Mr Edgerton, the owner and the RSPCA over the future of Hazel.
