Horse Saved From Raging River After Two Hour Fight With Current

Jun 30, 2020 by apost team

A woman walking with her dogs along Trout Creek in Summerland, BC, Canada back in 2019 was surprised to see a baby horse trapped against the bank of the raging, ice-cold creek. Acting quickly, she called O.A.T.S. Horse Rescue, who gathered a group of volunteers to go save the drowning, freezing filly.

The foal probably slipped on the embankment leading down to the creek and ended up trapped against it, and was held there by the force of the rushing water. The rescue team suspected she'd been there for several hours before being spotted. There was no sign of her mother or any other wild horses in the area; perhaps they had lost hope and moved on some time ago.

Joint effort

As reported on CBC News, the O.A.T.S. volunteers were joined by the local fire department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The rescue effort was difficult and risky. The water was very high and rushing violently, and it was extremely cold; any rescuer who slipped on the steep, slippery river bank was in danger of being swept away and rapidly developing hypothermia. In addition, the filly, being wild, was not used to be handled by humans and was consequently very frightened and not very cooperative.

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The rescuers resorted to lassoing the young horse and manufactured a makeshift stretcher out of a tarp and a piece of plywood. Once the filly had been pulled onto the stretcher, they were able to slide her out of the water and to safety.

Safe

Although somewhat traumatized by her ordeal and suffering from hypothermia, the filly, who they aptly named River, was not badly injured. All of her injuries were superficial and are expected to heal quite rapidly.

River was estimated to be about six months of age at the time and is a gorgeous chestnut. She was given over to a foster home after the incident, where she could heal and recover at her own pace.

This inspiring story of diverse groups of people getting together to save a wild animal is a definite must for discussing with your friends and family.