ESCONDIDO, Calif. — An emergency response team from the San Diego Humane Society rescued a horse Saturday after it had gone down inside a trailer while traveling from Joshua Tree to Imperial Beach. On Sunday, the humane society said the horse named Raven was feeling much better and shared video from the animal's owner on Twitter showing her walking around her pen.
The driver of the horse trailer was traveling on Interstate 15 Saturday afternoon when the divider inside the trailer went down with three horses inside after their owner said she was cut off, forcing her to stop short. Victoria Thompson said she then pulled off the freeway and into a parking lot in the 1000 block of El Norte Parkway.
Thompson was able to get two horses up, but the third horse -- a Friesian named Raven-- remained down.
"We tried several times to try to get her up but she was crying. That asphalt was too slippery for her to get up and we even tried to do mats but she wasn’t able to," said Thompson.
She then called the San Diego Humane Society, which dispatched nine members of its emergency response team and two officers to assist.
Good Samaritans brought over water to help keep the horses cool while a veterinarian sedated the horse so she would remain calm during the rescue. The vet stayed on the scene to ensure the horse was OK.
With the help of ropes and manpower, the horse was pulled to her feet and at 4:05 p.m., the horse was upright with just a few mild abrasions.
"We had to roll her because she had already been on her side long, so with the help of Good Samaritans and the humane society rolled her to the other side since she was laying too long," said Thompson. "They were able to crane her up and waited until she was stable enough and put weight on all four legs and that was the nerve breaking part for me."
After the sedation wore off, Raven was able to eat some hay before continuing to Imperial Beach with her owner.
"I don’t believe she would have been able to get up on her own without their assistance," said Thompson. "You're all angels who helped save Raven. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. A community can make a huge difference when they pull together."
SDHS shared updates throughout the incident and into Sunday on its Twitter page: