The rescue team fielded multiple calls in January, but one of the most “interesting” and potentially challenging happened on the last day of the month. Wild Horse Connection got a hotline call that there was a horse with a bucket stuck on her head!

WHC’s Corenna Vance quickly called LRTC’s Technical Large Animal Rescue team who got the team on the road with panels to set up a trap and tools to use to help remove the bucket once the horses were secure. Two team members who live close arrived and walked out to assess. Sure enough, the mare had what was actually a small metal trash can over her face with a handle securely over the top of her head. The reporting party had been watching her put her head down and try to rub the can off but the handle hadn’t budged. And the sides were bent/collapsed in conforming to her head. One eye peeked over the rim. Fortunately while she wasn’t happy, she wasn’t in a full panic state either.

They walked back to their vehicles to gather supplies as other team members started to arrive. When they returned to the field where the horses were, they found all of the horses in the band happily grazing and the can on the ground. She had finally managed to dislodge it!

Once again, a “self-rescue” was the best possible outcome. While they are trained and ready to respond, the rescue team is always glad when things resolve themselves. Happy endings are always preferred!

Whatever was in the bucket or can originally was still something they wanted. Even after all of that drama when one of the team members picked it up and walked away with it two horses followed and wanted to stick their heads in it. There are many reasons not to feed wild horses - this situation is another one. And a good reminder not to leave things out in the open where they can get into trouble if you live in wild horse areas. They do have a knack for finding trouble!