This image taken from video courtesy of KTVK shows
"Colorado" the horse being flown to safety Tuesday, March
16, 2010 in Buckeye, Ariz. by a helicopter after he spent
five days stranded on a sandbar on the Gila River about 36
miles southwest of Phoenix.
It's not every day you see a horse fly. But with the
greatest of ease, a heavy-duty helicopter plucked a mustang
named Colorado off an Arizona river sandbar on Tuesday morning,
reuniting him with his owner.
Colorado spent five days stranded on the sandbar along the Gila
River, southwest of Phoenix. The Gila's swift-moving current
prevented an earlier rescue and the horse was trapped on the
sandbar with a few bushes and trees to munch on.
His rider was one of three people rescued after they tried to
ride in the river on Friday.
A veterinarian prepped the 400-kilogram horse for the flight
on Tuesday by injecting him with a tranquiliser before
placing him in a harness with blinders on.
Once he was airborne, Colorado flew effortlessly and never
bucked, his black mane and tail blowing in the wind.
As the helicopter gently let Colorado down, the horse's back
legs buckled a bit before he straightened up.
Colorado's owner Vickie Eshenbaugh and volunteers were there
to greet the flying mustang's aerial arrival about 800 metres
from where he was stranded.
"He's doing good," Eshenbaugh told KTVK-TV in Phoenix.
"I always wanted a Pegasus."
Veterinarian Dr Julie Lewis of the Southwest Equine Medical
and Surgical Centre in Phoenix said Colorado was well-behaved
during the flight despite the loud noise from the helicopter.
"He did great. He stood quiet the whole time. Flew quiet. I
didn't see him spinning," Lewis said. Anonymous donors paid
for the rescue.
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