Helicopter rescues horse stranded on US sandbar

This image taken from video courtesy of KTVK shows "Colorado" the horse being flown to safety...
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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