In early June 2019, we set out to find the oldest mare on the river and her young foal. (photo top right-hand corner) After days of searching, we finally spotted 8-week-old Rosy late one night—alone, standing across the river. In that moment, we knew in our hearts that 25-year-old Rosa was most likely gone. 💔 And without her mother, little Rosy would not survive in the wild.

It was late, the 🌙darkness had settled in, and the river was running strong with early summer flow. Crossing on foot in those conditions would have been far too dangerous. So, with heavy hearts but determined resolve, the rescue team made a plan to return at first light—this time by🛶 kayak—to find her.The next morning brought a long, exhausting search. As the hours passed, hope began to fade. Then, just when it felt like we might not find her in time, one of our volunteers spotted her—lying quietly beneath a 🌳tree.

Rosy was incredibly weak and in urgent need of veterinary care. But once again, the 🏞️river stood between her and the help she so desperately needed. The current was too fast, the risk too great to attempt crossing on foot while carrying such a fragile life.
And that’s when help came in an unforgettable way…

The fan boat! 🚤

Read Rosy’s full rescue story below.

SRWHMG- Wild Rescues  ·

Debra L Mykitiak, Admin

Featured story of the week: This week’s story is about Rosy, as she will celebrate her 3rd Birthday this coming Thursday March 24th.

Rosy’s rescue is another wild story, this one includes Rosy getting a ride on the MCSO 🛥fan boat!

In the beginning of June 2019, we began 🔦searching for the oldest mare on the river and her foal. They had not been seen with their band the week before, which was alarming for us. This matriarch’s name was Rosa, and we named her new filly Rosy, after her mother, because this is to be her very last foal, so that she could retire.

We finally 🔭spotted 8-week-old Rosy 🌜late one night all by herself across the 🏞river, which unfortunately meant that 25 yr. old Rosa was most likely deceased. Her foal Rosy would not be able to survive without her mother and would die in the wild. It was very late, and very dark, and because it was June the river was flowing quite strong. It was determined that it was unsafe to try to cross the river on foot in the dark, but the rescue team made plans to meet at the crack of dawn and 🛶kayak across the river to find Rosy. After a long search in the morning and feeling a bit defeated because we hadn’t found her, one of our volunteers spotted her lying under a 🌴tree. Rosy was very weak and needed immediate vet care, but we had another obstacle facing us. We were on the other side of a very fast flowing river and there would be no way to safely cross the river with Rosy in our arms on foot. That’s where the 🛥fan boat came in!!!!!
Rosy’s rescue is a great example of how, here on the Salt River, authorities, and our non-profit work together to make humane wild horse management a success.

This is the 🧑‍✈️Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) and the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) rescuing Rosy, and all of it was approved by the 🌲Forest Service.

Video of MCSO fan boat taking her across the river to safety!

Rosy’s story didn’t end there. Yep, our caretakers were 💤sleeping in the foal barn with her and Peanut (Peanut had been rescued the month before) to keep a close eye on them day and night.

We worked hard on getting Rosy to survive first with plasma and 💉hydration IV’s and good nutrition. We also noticed her herniated belly button right away, so we knew that IF she survived, we would need to fix that. Every day, we saw a little more joy come back into her soft eyes. She was still a little anemic, but it’s obvious that her little body was finally starting to recover and is feeling much better.

However, on the 🌙night of June 28th her nighttime caregiver noticed her bowel pushing through her hernia and this time it could not be pushed back. Now there was no time left to get her health up to 100% before surgery, because an incarcerated bowel could kill her. She was rushed to the 👩‍⚕️veterinary hospital and underwent a successful hernia repair that night. Rosy was able to come home a few days later, and both she and Peanut (who was having some health issues of his own) continued to get around the 🕛clock love and care. Although they shared the foal barn, they each had their own stall and were kept separated until they were both healthy and strong. After 6 weeks they were finally allowed to be ❤️together and have been inseparable since.

Happy Birthday Rosy! We 💗love you to the 🌝 and back!

If you would like to sponsor Rosy, you can find her sponsor page at: saltriverwildhorsemanagementgroup.org/sponsor-rosy/