Horse rescued from near drowning

MAT-SU -- The act of saving her horse's life only took about an hour and a half, but it's an hour and a half Jessica Chapman will likely never forget.

Thirteen-year-old Jessica was riding her horse, Bandit, on a recent Saturday afternoon and decided to stray into territory she had been warned against, a decision that could have had serious consequences. Jessica was riding in her neighborhood off Bogard Road when she decided to cross the road and head past a gravel pit onto a trail near Dry Lake -- a misnomer for a boggy, marshy area.

"I thought, 'My parents won't know if I'm here 15 minutes,'" Jessica said. "All of a sudden it got boggy and [Bandit] kind of ran towards the lake."

Jessica said Bandit had stepped on a rein a few weeks earlier and broke the bridle, cutting his tongue in the process. As a result, she was riding with just a halter, not enough to stop the horse when he ventured into the lake.

Surprised by the water and mud, Bandit lunged a few more times, getting increasingly bogged down. Soon, Jessica said, Bandit's legs were stuck in the mud.

"I thought maybe I would get him out myself," Jessica said. When she realized Bandit was stuck beyond her help, she ran to a neighbor's house.

Jessica said she ran through the woods to the house of Karl and Ley Schleich, who called Animal Care and Regulation. Officer Mark Thomas said he responded as quickly as he could and was on the scene about 10 minutes after Karl Schleich told him the situation.

Thomas said the department is ill-equipped to handle equine emergencies. In his truck, he had a tarp, a few cables, a few lead ropes and a halter. Luckily, Jessica's father, Grant, rounded up a few neighbors, some of whom had four-wheelers that were small enough to get into the area and help tow the horse, which had since collapsed onto his side, out of the bog. Thomas said he could have tried to tow with his ACR truck, but the horse was in an area too confined for his vehicle to get in.

When Grant left to gather four-wheelers and other rescue equipment, he said Bandit was exhausted.

"He thrashed until he couldn't thrash any more," Grant said.

While the neighbors were on their way, Schleich, Jessica and Thomas worked to bring the horse out of the bog as far as they could. They moved Bandit approximately 20 feet and rolled the tarp under his head to keep his nose out of the water.

"He was sunk pretty low," Grant said. "He was so tired he couldn't even hold his own head up anymore."

Jessica knelt on a nearby marsh to keep Bandit calm and breathing freely. But Thomas said the horse and rider were not yet out of the woods. Bandit was still in distress, cold and shivering, and showing signs of difficulty breathing.

"He was really shaking violently because he was really cold," Jessica said. "I was even cold because that

water's not warm."

Thomas wrote in his report that he was beginning to be concerned for her safety as well. Jessica was wet from head to toe, he said, and was determined to remain by her horse's side until he was brought to safety. Thomas said Bandit was given a few handfuls of complete feed, a pellet high in vitamins and electrolytes that Thomas said has a calming effect on horses. But the horse was still in clear danger.

"If not addressed, the horse was going to die," Thomas wrote in his report.

Grant and a crew of neighbors soon reached the scene and, with the help of some plywood to aid stability, Thomas and others tried to get the tarp wrapped around Bandit so he could be tugged to dry land. After situating the tarp several different ways in hopes of reducing stress on Bandit's body, the group found a way that worked, and, with the engine of Grant's four-wheeler racing against the load and a rider on the front to give it more traction, Bandit was pulled to safety.

"Without the help of the community, this little Animal Care officer, Karl and Jessica wouldn't have gotten that horse out of there," Thomas said. "The equipment needed for this type of thing is not available to Animal Care and Regulation officers. We have to rely on the community."

Thomas said Bandit, upon reaching dry ground, bolted upright but nearly collapsed from shock. Jessica, he said, was quick to pull the horse back to an upright position and stood with him several minutes to help him regain his calm. After walking up the trail to a sunny spot, Thomas said Bandit was dried off with blankets and given a good ration of the high-vitamin feed and soon appeared to be doing fine. Jessica said he later was treated to a warm bath and has since been ridden.

"It could have turned out a lot different," Grant said. "Fortunately, it turned out okay. We all learned from it."

Jessica said she's glad her horse is okay, and she's feeling the consequences of

doing what she's been told not to.

"I'm in a lot of trouble," Jessica said. "I didn't go to the fair this year."

She said she's also been restricted to the yard when riding and has had little contact with friends, but said she understands why.

Grant said, as a pilot, he's surprised ACR isn't better equipped to deal with horse rescues.

"There's a lot of horses in this Valley and people, I don't think they realize," Grant said. "There are hundreds of horses out there."

Grant said there are two rescue-type helicopters in the Valley that can be used for horse rescues, one at Visnaw Lake and one near Big Lake.

"What the Animal Care people need is … a big special sling that straps them in real tight so they can't wriggle out of it," Grant said. "If they had that article, they could strap them in and call [for a rescue]. Sure, it costs a little money, but so do horses."