Dog trap.

Health and safety issues are hardly a priority in many Asian and Eastern European countries, and open manhole covers and similar obstacles are a constant danger.

When riding into Elista I imagined I heard a dog barking, but not a canine was in sight - then I realised it came from a hole in the ground. A stray dog had fallen into one of these traps. Baurzhan investigated .....

.....and managed to dangle my reins into the hole, twist them round the dog's neck, and flip him up to safety.

An somewhat undignified extraction for a rather shamefaced and disorientated mutt, but at least he was saved from a lingering death.