FOUND!

    Just as the five of us were about to enter a new section of the bush for another sweep, a van pulled up on the Little Falls Pit Road.  It was Mike Monroe, local farmer and horseman.  He told us that he had done some searching yesterday on the other side of the highway and had spotted some horse droppings, although he couldn’t tell that they were very recent.  He also said he thought he smelled a horse.

    Since we had found absolutely no evidence of the horse on our side of the highway, I suggested we go over to where Mike had done some searching.  There we found an old logging trail perpendicular to the highway that was all over grown, and the five of us walked down the skid road a bit, then at a random spot we spread out and started a sweep through the bush down toward the Holmes River.

    Again we saw no signs of a horse, but suddenly I heard a yell from my right flank.  

    “She’s here!”

    When the horse heard the sound of the human voice she quickly made her way through the thick bush towards him.  Dancer the horse was happy to rejoin human beings after 6 days on her own.  She didn’t show any signs of injury, although her bridle was gone.

    I sent a text message to the search organizer and we slowly made our way back to the skid trail, then toward the highway.  Before we made it to the highway, we were met by a handful of other searchers including Dawn, the horses owner.  It was an emotional reunion.

    It was amazing to me that we stumbled upon the horse in all that vast area.  The point we chose to start our search was just made by random, and had we started in another place or walked another angle through the forest, the horse might have been missed.  It was very lucky.

    Dawn thanked everyone many times, but it was rewarding enough just to have a successful outcome to our search.

    Below, a relieved Dawn phones to tell that her horse was found.

My paintings can be seen at:   www.davidmarchant.ca