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The horse was stuck in an area at around 7,200 feet that was completely inaccessible by foot or vehicle, officials said.
Credit: Nevada County Sheriff's HEART/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- A horse was airlifted to safety after it bucked its rider and became stranded during a 100-mile journey through the California wilderness
- A helicopter unit was called in for a large animal rescue on Aug. 1 during the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile endurance ride in the Lake Tahoe area
- The horse was stuck in an area at around 7,200 feet that was completely inaccessible by foot or vehicle, officials said
A horse became stranded after bucking its rider during a 100-mile journey through the California wilderness — and rescuers deployed a helicopter to help bring the animal to safety.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office shared in a social media post that its helicopter unit was called in for a large animal rescue on Saturday, Aug. 1, during the region’s Tevis Cup — a 100-mile endurance ride in which racers and their horses make their way through the Lake Tahoe area over the course of 24 hours.
Officials with the sheriff’s office, as well as the Nevada County Sheriff’s Humane Emergency Animal Rescue Team (HEART), said that one competitor had been bucked off their horse, leaving the rider and horse separated in California’s Granite Chief Wilderness.
“As temperatures continued to rise, time became a critical factor,” HEART shared in a social media post. “We knew when the horse had last been able to hydrate, and it was becoming increasingly important to get eyes on him.”
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The horse was airlifted to safety after it bucked its rider and became stranded during a 100-mile journey.
Credit: Butte County Sheriff/Facebook
The horse was stuck in an area at around 7,200 feet that was completely inaccessible by foot or vehicle, officials said. Using coordinates from a GPS device mounted on the horse’s saddle, rescuers got to work finding the horse before opting to move it to safer ground using a helicopter.
“The Sheriff’s Office helicopter launched with technical animal rescue members from the North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG) aboard and flew to the coordinates, where the crew confirmed the horse’s location and observed that it was still standing,” officials said.
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Afterward, rescuers and a veterinary team from the University of California, Davis examined the horse and sedated it. HEART staff then set up a landing area near the French Meadows Reservoir, a lake off the American River, so the animal had a place to recover when it arrived.
Video footage shows the horse dangling from a harness as rescuers move the animal to safer ground. After being gently placed at the landing area, the horse was back up and standing within 15 minutes, and it was loaded into a trailer to be driven home.
After the horse was delivered, the helicopter returned to pick up the veterinary team from the mountain, HEART staff said.
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A helicopter unit was called in for a large animal rescue on Aug. 1 during the Tevis Cup.
Credit: Butte County Sheriff/Facebook
“It’s important to remember that Large Animal Technical Rescue isn’t about dramatic moments,” HEART said. “It’s about making good decisions under pressure, adapting to changing conditions, trusting your partners, and executing the fundamentals flawlessly. This mission was a perfect example of all of the above. It couldn’t have been completed without all involved teams doing their thing!”
This year’s Tevis Cup, the 70th annual event to take place in the Lake Tahoe area, included 102 rider-and-equine teams. The route goes from the Robie Equestrian Park near Truckee, Calif., to Auburn.
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