Emergency surgery has saved Brego, who played Aragorn’s steed in three Lord of the Rings movies.

The 22-year-old Dutch warmblood stallion formed such a bond with Viggo Mortensen who played Aragorn, that Mr Mortensen purchased him after filming ended. He is cared for by vet Ray Lenaghan and his wife Jane at their property on the Kapiti Coast.

Mr Lenaghan says that Brego had been unwell for only a few hours but after an examination he knew he was in trouble with very bad colic. The decision was quickly to bring him to the University’s Equine Clinic and Hospital.

“I told Jane when I examined him that we would have to either take him to Massey or dig a hole… Jane drove him up and I followed in case anything happened en route.”

Brego was handed over to the care of senior lecturer in equine surgery Frederik Pauwels, who had him in surgery within 40 minutes

“It was very clear from the moment he arrived he was in a critical state,” Mr Pauwels said. “We anaesthetised him, made a mid-line incision into his belly and explored. We found a large amount of small intestine stuck in a tear in his gut – part of his bowel was stuck.”

Treatment included removing almost two metres of small intestine and then joining the ends back together. “Because of the severity of the case we expected there to be problems with him afterwards, but he did really great.”

If the surgery hadn’t taken place, Brego would certainly have suffered a “pretty nasty death”, Mr Pauwels says. Signs of colic include stomach pain, with some horses suffering intensely. Most colic is caused by physical derangement, including a bowel becoming twisted or stuck.

Brego stayed at the vet hospital for about a week before being released last Friday (18 May). Mr Lenaghan says he’s now “brilliant”.

“He is in his box, eating and drinking and hasn’t put a foot wrong.“

Mr Lenaghan was allowed to observe the surgery due to his veterinary training – he practices as an equine vet. “I was thinking during the op this is taking a long time,” he says. “Frederik and the staff did an amazing job.”

Brego will be kept stabled for about another month, Mr Lenaghan says, to allow the wound to heal. Then he will join other Lord of the Rings cast members colleagues on the Lenaghan’s property. After working as a stunt-riding double on the Peter Jackson directed trilogy, including playing Elfen Princess Arwen, Mrs Lenaghan was delighted to end up owning her primary mount, Florian, Arwen’s silver stallion. The couple also cares for Gandalf’s cart pony Clydee, and several black rider horses.

Brego was known as Uraeus, a former top-level dressage horse and sire of successful sporting horses. His talent was spotted while he was in semi-retirement, and then owner and trainer the late Lockie Richards agreed to lease him to the Lord of the Rings production.

The Lenaghans had received an email from Viggo Mortensen, who said he is very grateful everyone acted so quickly to help save the horse. Mr Mortensen said he was looking forward to seeing Brego again later this year, after he completed a project in Hungary.