For five weeks Karel and Terry Mason have been sharing a muddy island with 14 miniature horses, two full-sized mares and two calves.
Their Coraki farm in northern NSW was cut off by two major floods in the space of five weeks, which washed away and drowned more than 70 of their animals.
They and their surviving animals have only just now been rescued thanks to a complex and innovative operation that Ms Mason described as a "horrific" experience.
"When we got [the horses] back here, they'd lost 30 of their fellow horses in a herd, and 40 sheep and some cows," she said.
She said she simply could not "connect with them".
"I know it was horrific," Ms Mason said.
"I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from losing my children, two of my adult sons, and this just topped it off for me."
Concerned locals like Corey Clarke dropped food and fodder at the property while the Masons waited to be rescued.
"Families like this … get forgotten about for days, even weeks after flood events like this happen," he said.
"No-one had been here except us and the SES, and they [the SES] were just inundated with calls so we just jumped on board and did what we could."
Mr Clarke said the scenes he witnessed when he first arrived at the property were confronting.
"[It was] pretty emotional, mate, like water was deep and you couldn't really see much," he said.
"All the animals were gone.
'A lot of them were crook'
The animals that did survive were forced to stand in mud or water for weeks at a time.
Terry Mason said the conditions had taken a toll.
"They'll stand in water for days and days, and it's not healthy for any animal to do that," he said.
"So the whole lot of them were crook after it."
Guyra-based vet Jane Mactier, who has been working in the flood-affected region for several weeks, monitored the herd's condition while they were stranded and administered antibiotics.
"A lot of them had skin peeling off despite a few weeks of antibiotics," she said.
Determined not to let the animals suffer, she was among of a team of volunteers who hatched a rescue plan.
It was a complex operation involving a semitrailer and a crane to help turn a punt and barricades into a vessel safe enough to transport the animals.
The animals were sedated before being loaded onboard and taken to higher, and drier ground.
"They're not recovering at the moment; we're going backwards not forwards."
Despite this, Ms Mactier declared the operation a success and expected the animals to recover.
"We've got enough volunteers and people who believe in the cause of keeping animal welfare and human welfare at the forefront," she said.
"That's not enough anymore."
The animals will now be cared for on neighbouring properties until the floodwater subsides, and will receive ongoing veterinary treatment.
