Friday, January 13, 2012

Modern-Day Western!

I couldn't believe it when I read the headline: Man Jumps Off SUV to Rescue Horse. It's like something right out of a modern-day Western. You can read the full story here, but in short summary: after 23 year-old Dustin Burckhard saw Midnight, a cart horse, break free from where she was tied outside the Old Timer Cafe in Montana, he and a coworker jumped in Burckhard's SUV and took off after her. Knowing that he needed to stop the mare before the reached the highway, and unable to get her to slow down, Burckhard asked his coworker to take the wheel as he leaped from the moving vehicle into the buggy the mare was pulling. Unable to slow the horse because of broken reins, Burckhard then jumped to the mare's back, grabbing her ear and pulling her into a circle.

A near-disaster was thankfully averted, but what can we learn from this? Well, obvious lesson number 1 is the fact that a horse should never, ever be tied by a bridle. Had the reins not broken when Midnight panicked and broke free, catching and slowing her would have been much simpler. Lesson number 2 would be to never leave a horse unattained, even if it's supposedly bombproof. Lesson number 3? Never underestimate the determination of a horse lover! Midnight's owner was so lucky that Burckhard was around - few people would have gone to the lengths that he did, and this story could have had a tragic ending.

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