Tip of the cap to the the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office who led a unique rescue on May 16th of an escaped horse named Cowboy who was stranded in the Yellowstone River.
With the help of Air 1, Gary Blaine, Shane Weinreis from the US Water Rescue Dive Team and many gracious locals individuals, Cowboy was guided back to shore and airlifted to safety.
It was quite an operation and we are happy to report Cowboy is back safe at home. Read a description of the operation from Sheriff Mike Linder below.
Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office Statement:
I spoke to Cowboy’s owner today and it sounds and looks like he is doing just fine. I have included the up and personal video I took as well (posted in the comments).
Also, just to answer some of the questions that are popping up, here is a short chain of events.
Tuesday evening 5-13, the owner noticed Cowboy was missing from his pasture and seeing where the bank was sluffed away, they suspected he went into the river. They notified our office right away so we could be on the lookout, or would have information if someone should see him.
Thursday evening, our office was called about Cowboy seen standing in the middle of the river between a couple of islands off of Mullowney Lane. As short time later, Jonnie from Angel Horses called me at home to inform me what was going on, as it was showing up on social media. I communicated with my Deputies, but by this time it was getting dark, so in the interest of safety, I made the call to wait on a rescue attempt until morning.
We started getting things ready at daylight Friday morning to include a couple of rescue boats and personnel, Gary got the Sheriff’s Office helicopter ready for the lift, one of our deputies made arrangements with a vet and picked up a an oral sedative to relax Cowboy (even before the helicopter was on scene). Shane from US Water Rescue was geared up and walked out to Cowboy with a halter to try to lead him on to the island, but he wasn’t too interested in walking at that point.
Given the water wasn’t that deep, Detective Burke, one of our boat operators walked a bucket of senior feed I brought from home out to them. After a couple of bites he wasn’t quite so hard to coax to the island. But now we needed to get him home. The water is fast and deep around the islands, so the next option was to air mail him home.
Enter Air-1 with Gary Blain at the controls. We Strapped Cowboy up, Gary hovered overhead, the hook was secured, and Cowboy was on his way to his owners who were waiting on the south riverbank with a trailer. We used a small dose of sedative so his landing gear worked just fine, and he went right to refueling after touchdown. (the horse that is).
It was a great team effort by all.
Thanks to everyone who played a role in this successful rescue!
