Two Salt River horses, a mare and her foal, are alive and saved from drowning after being swept into the current in a Salt River Project canal on May 20, 2018. The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group had contacted the fire department after they were unable to get the horses out themselves. Thanks to the tireless effort of Mesa firefighters, the mare and her young horse were finally rescued from the canal.
Salt River in Arizona
Two Salt River horses, a mare and her foal, are saved after being swept into the current in a Salt River Project canal.
© 2009 by Alan Stark New window.
The two horses were struggling and appeared to be close to drowning, but because of their weight, the firefighters had a difficult time pulling them out of the canal.
At first the firefighters attempted to lead the horse to the ramp, but the current was floating the foal away from her, and she went back to be near her foal. A technical crew arrived and began working to save the baby horse first. Finally with the expertise of the technical crew, the firefighters, working with members of the Wild Horse Management group, were able to rescue both the baby and mother horse from the canal.
It is believed the horses were thirsty and went down the ramp to drink, but became caught by the current, causing them to lose their footing and be swept away. The horses are now in the care of a veterinarian and will be relocated to a safer area once they are fully recuperated from their ordeal.
More about the Salt River Horses:
The Salt River horses are considered a national treasure and Arizona’s political leaders, including Governor Doug Ducey, Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, and Congresspersons Salmon, Trent Franks, Martha McSally, Ann Kirkpatrick, Raul Grijalva, Kyrsten Sinema, Ruben Gallego and David Schweikert, have expressed their strong support for their constituents’ desire to establish long-term protection for the Salt River horses.
”The freedom of these wild horse families means a great deal to the American people,” concluded Simone Netherlands. “Perhaps it is because they represent what we care about most - freedom and family.”
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) is an Arizona non-profit organization established to protect, monitor and scientifically study the Salt River Wild Horses. The SRWHMG has been spearheading the effort to secure lasting protections for this iconic and beloved wild horse herd in the Tonto National Forest.
The group has documented the Salt River wild horses in the Tonto National Forest for almost 20 years and keeps meticulous records of birth rates and death rates, migrating patterns and herd dynamics, as well as environmental circumstances and hopes to come to humane management solutions with the Forest Service for the permanent preservation of the Salt River wild horses.