If you spend enough time around horses, you will eventually have a good story about a loose horse. In a worst-case scenario, you may end up having a story about a horse that went missing. One horse owner now has a story about how a missing horse was found, and it is a pretty rare tale.
As a report by the Colorado Springs Gazette explains, a docile 29-year-old horse recently went missing after unlatching a gate and wandering away.
If you were wondering, yes, the name of the horse in question is ‘Houdini.’
The ‘escape artist’ is well known for marching in parades, teaching kids to ride, and spreading some love to residents of nursing homes during his visits.
The report explains that Houdini was on the lam for a total of four days. His owners, Kari Edge and her 11-year-old daughter, Aspen, were understandable distraught over the situation.
Local business owners Joshua Gilson and Kerry Garrison were asked to help find Houdini on Day 3 of the ordeal. The duo own and operate Multicopter Warehouse, which the article describes as an area store that builds and sells drones.
The pair utilized a drone – particularly a custom-made DJI Phantom 2 – to help search for Houdini. The drone was also equipped with a $3,000 infrared camera which produced video images that Gilson and Garrison monitored.
The duo found no luck on Day 3, although their drone did attract gunfire from a property owner. It was early on Day 4 when Gilson, Garrison, and the DJI Phantom 2 hit pay dirt.
"[Houdini] was stuck in the bushes about 1,500 feet from its herd and about half a mile from the ranch," Gilson was quoted as saying.
The drone was able to locate Houdini while traditional measures produced no such luck. Teams had ridden on horseback, drove around and had walked right by Houdini, according to Gilson, but none of those efforts paid off.
The report also states that Houdini had suffered wounds from a barbed-wire fence and that he would have succumbed to his injuries within 24 another hours if he had not been found.
(With files from the Colorado Springs Gazette)
