By Amelia Perrin
(Nov 3, 2020) Last month, Least Resistance Training Concepts’s Technical Large Animal Rescue Team received a request from Wild Horse Connection to mobilize and rescue seven wild horses caught on a ledge between a ravine and a guardrail on Nevada State Route 341. This section of the highway has no shoulder to work from and has blind curves with a speed limit of 45mph, so it was a dangerous situation for both the TLAR team and the horses caught.
Apparently, the horses started alongside the guardrail a mile or so back, but the ledge kept getting narrower and narrower. The family quickly realized they had no room to move forward or back and were very stuck.
The LRTC team arrived on the scene with their Incident Support Unit, which AWHC provided a grant to help retrofit. The once ambulance turned technical large animal rescue vehicle, was used to block and control traffic in coordination with the NHP officer.
The LRTC volunteers approached the horses quietly on foot to see how the family would react. The horses wanted to avoid the humans but stayed relatively calm. The rescue team members observed the horses for a couple of minutes and tried to figure out a plan to get the horses to safety.
The horses did not want to turn back but a few did try the slope. It was pretty steep, but fortunately, the ground was relatively level, about 50 yards down from the ledge.
A couple of the horses tested the slope and side-passed down, much like a person wearing skis or snowshoes. The other horses weren't so courageous and there were a couple of foals in the band, so the LRTC team applied gentle and persistent pressure until all horses made it down to safety!
As the team left, the horses were nibbling vegetation and meandering their way back down the hillside!
AWHC is so proud and honored to work in collaboration with such amazing groups, like Least Resistance Training Concepts, who all share the same goal of protecting and persevering the Virginia Range wild horses! Teamwork makes the dream work, and the dream is working!
