Operators of the Wildwood Stables discovered early Thursday morning, May 24th, that their 12-year-old Belgian Suffolk Cross, a horse named Duke, had broken through the barn floor sometime that morning or the night before. The 2,000-pound draft horse was discovered flailing with only his head and front legs above floor level. The horse’s body was collapsed into a section of the four-and-a-half foot crawl space that was surrounded by concrete walls. The horse’s hind legs were folded beneath him, and his massive frame completely filled the hole, making access to his hind quarters impossible. To extricate the horse, rangers cut through the hayloft floor and rigged a come-along that was attached to the barn rafters. The horse was sedated to minimize his thrashing, and rescuers wrapped a section of fire hose around the horse’s torso. Rangers and maintenance staff worked together with the Mount Desert Fire Department and a Northeast EMS crew to hoist the horse up and drag him out of the pit. The veterinarian was unsure whether the horse would be able to walk, but within a half hour Duke was up and walking.

 

On April 13th, Blue Ridge (North Carolina and Virginia) National Parkway rangers received a report that state police had a man in custody who may have been involved in a possible accident in the area where the parkway crosses over Interstate 77. Upon arriving on scene, rangers learned that a man travelling the parkway drove his vehicle off the road and through a field, eventually striking a fence that parallels I-77. He then decided to take off all his clothes and begin walking. He eventually “commandeered” a horse belonging to a local farmer whose land borders the park and began riding the horse along an adjacent county road. When state and county officers arrived on scene, they saw that the horse was trying to buck off the naked rider. Eventually, the man was thrown from the horse, at which time officers took him into custody. He told the officers that he was under the influence of methedrine. He was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation; charges are pending and may include horse theft, indecent exposure and public intoxication.