{"id":42789,"date":"2022-01-11T19:12:18","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T02:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/horses-rescued-from-mountain-pasture-near-groundhog-reservoir\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:09:38","slug":"horses-rescued-from-mountain-pasture-near-groundhog-reservoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/horses-rescued-from-mountain-pasture-near-groundhog-reservoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Horses rescued from mountain pasture near Groundhog Reservoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Horses
Horses stranded in a snowy mountain pasture near Groundhog Lake were taken to a safe location by local volunteers and Dolores County searchers. (Courtesy Dolores County Search and Rescue)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Six horses stranded in a snowy mountain meadow without access to food and water were rescued near Groundhog Reservoir last week, according to the Dolores County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The multiday rescue effort began Jan. 2 when Sheriff Don Wilson activated Dolores County Search and Rescue to respond to a call from a concerned resident, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

A drone was launched over the remote pasture, and although the pictures did not show obvious distress, it was determined they needed to be taken to a safe place.<\/p>\n

The mountainous area at 9,500 feet elevation had been hit by recent snowstorms that dropped 3 to 4 feet of snow. Hay was placed to lure the horses to an area where they could be rescued.<\/p>\n

\"Keegan
Keegan Keesling with Dolores County Search and Rescue drives horses over the dam at Groundhog Reservoir. (Courtesy Dolores County Search and Rescue)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Jan. 5, rescue volunteers Clay Tillia, Ron Higman, RJ Higman and Hayden Riffey arrived by snowmobile to the location of the stranded herd near the Groundhog Vista subdivision.<\/p>\n

They coaxed the horses to move toward nearby corrals, but they became inaccessible in a grove of aspen trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a heroic snowshoe action, Clay and company were able to push the horses out of the tight aspens and into the subdivision,\u201d said Capt. Keith Keesling, of Dolores County Search and Rescue, in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

They were herded to the Groundhog Store \u201cfor some much needed food and water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After spending the night in corrals, the horses were herded to Disappointment Valley Jan. 8, where they were met by Wilson, loaded into trailers and taken to a temporary home offered by a resident.<\/p>\n

\"Hayden
Hayden Riffey, Clay Tillia, RJ Higman, Ron Higman discuss the rescue plan for six horses in the Groundhog Reservoir area. (Courtesy Dolores County Search and Rescue)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The horses received veterinarian care, food, water and shelter, Wilson stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe horses were rescued with medical and minor issues,\u201d Wilson stated in the news release. \u201cA state veterinarian will be requested for a medical assessment of all six horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolores County Sheriff Sgt. Coty Kelshaw has made contact with the owner of the horses, and the incident is under investigation.<\/p>\n

The rescue \u201cadventure\u201d had some twists and turns, along with some stubborn equine attitude, Keesling said.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 6, the plan was to bring the horses down the rim trail to Groundhog Creek, \u201cbut the horses were not interested\u201d and could not be persuaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are easier to rescue than horses,\u201d Keesling said.<\/p>\n

\"Horses
Horses rescued near Grounhog Reservoir were herded to these corrals as part of a rescue effort in Dolores County last week. (Courtesy Dolores County Search and Rescue)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Trucks, trailers and volunteers who staged at Fish Creek for their arrival had to be reassigned, and a new plan devised to gather the horses at Disappointment Valley. Plows with Dolores County Road and Bridge cleared the way.<\/p>\n\n

The rescue was a true community effort, Wilson and Keesling said, with many residents, county staff and businesses stepping up to help. Bonnie Candelaria of Groundhog Store provided housing and support for rescuers, Denkai Animal Rescue assisted as did Four Corners Backcountry Horsemen, Dolores County Road and Bridge, and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge thanks. The rescue would not have happened without your efforts,\u201d Keesling stated.<\/p>\n

During the rescue, Dolores County Search and Rescue was active for 104 hours, drove vehicles for 623 miles, and had 118 snowmobile hours. The horses were herded for 16 miles.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

veterinarian called in to examine animals; case is under investigation by Dolores County Sheriff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[837,28,1300,29,1164],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-county","tag-headlines","tag-horseback-riding","tag-newsletter","tag-snow"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85458,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42789\/revisions\/85458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42789"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}