A horse has been reunited with her owner after falling 60ft down a ravine.
Lola, an eight-year-old mare, was being ridden by her owner in Caspers Wilderness Park — an 8,000-acre wilderness reserve in California — in the Rancho Mission Viejo unincorporated area when the accident happened on 21 September.
Who loves a story that ends well?Lola an 8 year old horse fell down an approximately 60 foot ravine and was trapped. #OCFA technical rescue team members and our helicopter devised a plan to save Lola.Walking the horse out was not an option due to the terrain. We had a vet come to the scene to sedate Lola so we could safely fly her out. We flew Lola to a safe landing spot with additional rescue team members awaiting.Fortunately, we were able to reunite Lola with her owner who was ecstatic to see her!Posted by Orange County Fire Authority on Monday, September 21, 2020
Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) were called at 12.18pm that afternoon and were helped in the rescue by Orange County Parks.
A clip, shared by OCFA, shows rescuers attaching a safety harness to the mare, who is then lifted out of the ravine by helicopter. She is flown to safety and the pilot carefully lands her in a corral, assisted by a team on the ground, before where she is happily reunited with her owner.
“The horse’s owner, who had to jump off the horse as [she] was bucking before falling down the ravine, was evaluated by paramedics on scene and deemed to be uninjured,” said an OCFA spokesman.
He added that technical rescue team members and a helicopter came to Lola’s rescue after she fell approximately 60ft down the ravine in Caspers Park.
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“Walking the horse out was not an option due to the terrain. We had a vet come to the scene to sedate Lola so we could safely fly her out. We flew Lola to a safe landing spot with additional rescue team members awaiting,” said the spokesman.
“Fortunately, we were able to reunite Lola with her owner who was ecstatic to see her!”
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
