Today is a day we will remember for a very long time. Today we may well have saved the life if a young horse. Actually it was a foal. A foal is a horse less than one year old. This one was a young female. It will be impossible for me to adequately describe the scene, the emotions, including fear, and the jubilation we all felt after it was all over. I'll give it a try.....
We started our day with breakfast out of the resort. Friend Scotty invited us to join he and Lila and Leroy for breakfast at one of the neighbouring RV parks, Good Life RV. $3.50 all you can eat. The food was okay and the company was great. We returned home and went for a brisk walk to shake off the effects of the heavy breakfast. Then we headed out for some mid-day birding along the Salt River. We picked up 7 new species for the years list even though we considered the birding to be spotty at best. Then again, birding was not the story of the day.
Our second stop for the day was at Blue Point, a small park off the Bush Highway on the Salt River. We arrived at around noon and had our BP&J sandwiches before scoping out the birds in the area. We did spot a Gray Flycatcher feeding in the Mesquite trees. Like I said, this story isn't about the birds.
We were about 100 feet from the parking lot when we heard the thundering hooves of horses. Dana counted 16 as they charged across the parking lot and through an opening in the metal fence. The opening is such that you actually have to step over a sill that is about a foot off the ground. We have been at this park many times and have seen a few horse from time to time. We are also aware of the wild and feral horses in this area but we have not seen this number together in a herd. Then, after the small herd ran through the Mesquite trees to the river about 200 feet away, we saw a young horse running back and forth at the metal fence. Clearly the foal was spooked and unable to either locate the opening in the fence or unwilling to go through the opening. Then up from the river came an adult horse, clearly the mother of the foal. The two horses were very vocal and active, running back and forth on opposite sides of the metal fence. At this point we were very close, maybe 30 feet. Then we heard a most distressing sound. We heard the foal crash through a wire fence that connected to the metal fence separating her from her mother and the rest of the heard. She then disappear from our sight. What followed was panic on the part of the mother horse. She ran to where the foal went down, then towards us, then back to the foal. As we moved closer I was keeping a close eye on the mother and looking for a tree to hide behind in case she charged us. She did in fact give a couple of false charges but didn't get too close. Meanwhile the foal was down her side on the ground thrashing and kicking. We made our way to where the foal was on the ground. She had her right hind leg, just above the hoof firmly caught between 2 strands of heavy fence wire. She was clearly frightened and our presence was not welcome. There was a never a question in my mind that we had to do something to free the foal.
I headed for the 4Runner to get the pliers I keep in the storage locker. A young couple and their children were approaching the scene. I asked the dad if he had any wire cutters. He said he would go to his vehicle and see what he had. I found my tools and was disappointed to find only a pair of needle nose pliers. I thought, dang, why did I leave my vise-grips at home. Oh well, use what you got. When Dana and I approached the foal she started kicking again to free her caught leg. After a few minutes she settled down and was either exhausted or she knew we were there to help. Probably the former. At first I tried to pull the strands of fence wire apart enough to free the foal. If Carl or Wesley were there maybe they would have been successful. Me, not so much. I was very wary of that trapped right leg. To me it was like a spring and I didn't want to get my head too close for fear she would launch an attack. I had a flash of me with a broken hand, arm or jaw and quickly backed up to consider a plan B. I think it was Dana who said to undo the wire at the post. I quickly went to work with the pliers to untie the wire. Once I had a few inches of wire free it was easy to twist the wire and free it from the post. At last the foal's leg was free. She lay on the ground for what seemed a very long time but in reality was only about 30 seconds. I was still not sure if the leg was broken and I was hoping, maybe even praying that she was okay. Then, up she popped. She seemed to look at us as to say "hey, thanks" and then she joined her mother and together off they went to join the rest of the herd at the river.
What a relief to see the foal walk away without limping. I turned around and noticed that we had attracted a bit of a crowd. The fellow who helped us shook my hand and a few bystanders cheered. A woman came up and shook my hand and said thanks for doing that.
We drove away from Blue Point in a state of disbelief. Did that just happen? Did we just save the life of a horse? Yes, that did just happen and together, with the assistance of a stranger, we did save that young horse. Of course, the horse was extremely lucky she didn't break a leg when she went down. Even still, I truly believe that if had not acted immediately her thrashing would have eventually led to worse things.
Well, that is the story of the foal in the fence. All's well that ends well. I can't help but think of the last 3 lines of the JB song "Cowboy in the Jungle":
And learn to trust your intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what may.
And there's a cowboy in the jungle (desert).
I'll end the post with a bird photo from earlier in the day. This is a Gray Flycatcher. Beautiful little thing but again, this day was not about birds. No offence little bird but the most beautiful thing I saw today was that foal walking away to meet her mother. (by the way: No photos were taken of the foal in the fence out of respect for the horse.)
