It is not uncommon for a track announcer to say that a horse is ‘flying’ through the stretch when it kicks home with a quick turn of foot. Although, it is a totally different story when a horse literally flies for three miles while 150 feet up in the air.

The New York Daily News reported that on Friday (March 14) an injured Tennessee Walking gelding named Dakota had to be sedated and airlifted out of a remote canyon in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California.

The article states that the airborn trip was need after the 16-year-old gelding fell roughly 100 feet down a section of the Santa Clara Truck Trail.

Veterinarian Racheal Sachar was part of a rescue team that descended to the location of the horse and rider, dodging poison oak and other obstacles along the way.

The article states that Dakota’s rider, who only suffered minor injuries to one of her legs, had only fallen 50 feet. She was reportedly taken to hospital before Dakota was rescued. The article also states that the woman’s husband was able to make his way down to Dakota and keep him calm before the cavalry – in this case being Sachar and the County of Los Angeles Fire Department – arrived.

When the cavalry did arrive, they sedated Dakota and rigged him up to the fire department’s helicopter via harness. And just like that, they were gone.

A report on the situation by Yahoo! News states that the helicopter took Dakota on a decent flight, gently landing the gelding three miles away from the scene of the accident.

The New York Daily News article explains that although the situation led to quite a story, the fall was serious. Dakota suffered a fractured skull in the fall, but is expected to make a full recovery.

(With files from New York Daily News and Yahoo! News)