A Horse of Course

Last shift at about noon we were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident on the freeway near our station. Enroute, we learned that a horse was involved. Already, we were thinking this was going to be a issue, since horses and freeway traffic do not mix so well socially. When we arrived we found that no humans were hurt, but a horse trailer has come unhooked from the pickup, swapped ends, backed into the concrete barrier, and ejected a horse out the back. The horse was lying at the back of the trailer with flailing feet beneath the trailer. I took one look at the wild eyes and decided that we were going to have a problem when that horse finally got to it's feet and ran out into the heavy freeway traffic going by on the blind corner.

As luck would have it, a veterinarian was on scene within minutes. He was a little guy, but he just reached down, grabbed a handful of mane, and dragged the horse out from under the trailer. He then sedated the other horse in the trailer that was about to come uncorked. Within a few minutes the horse on the ground slowly stood up on three feet, gradually shifted weight onto the fourth leg, and decided that the experience of crashing on the freeway was something not to be repeated. The horse inside the trailer calmed down and was led out on the shoulder of the freeway. A few minutes later, the horses calmly were led to the nearest exit, boarded another trailer, and continued their much interupted journey.