Awful! Another wild horse in a cattleguard!
September 12th
Awful. We just pried another wild horse out of the cattleguard!
Thank you MCSO Lake Patrol, Rural Metro Fire department A59 C shift, and SRWHMG Randy, Thomas, Glenn and Simone, and thank you bystanders! Unedited sorry for loudness, the noise is a generator for the claws of life.
We don’t ever want to do this again MCDOT !!! Please.
It looks like Ladybird got lucky and didn’t break anything, but her hind legs are very stiff and bleeding…We are monitoring her right now and we are going to keep a close eye on her.
We are hoping for an approval from MCDOT of raised rumble strips and reflectors in front of this cattleguard asap.
SRWHMG.
2 hours later
We are monitoring Ladybird, the mare that we had to pry out of the cattleguard (at Phon D Sutton) this morning, and we are pleaing for MCDOT to do something, anything, asap.
Four hiking teams, plus our road patrol team are in the field looking for Tex band, because we would love to reunite Ladybird with them. (By walking her towards them)
This mare is a survivor. The cattle guard ordeal yesterday is not the first trauma she has been through. (See pic of when she was shot by an arrow)
Ladybird has been with her band stallion Tex since 2012. She has 8 offspring, of which 3 are deceased and 5 are alive and well. 2 of them are great big lead stallions: Jay and Houston. Ladybird has a 2019 foal we named Raven who is hopefully still with the band. She is for sure missing her mom. Ladybird does not have a 2020 foal and is not currently pregnant, because she has been treated with fertility control PZP.
The band was last seen eating river eelgrass at Granite Reef and were seen traveling back upstream. The next thing was Ladybird’s rescue from the cattle guard at Phon D, which likely means they were trying to get to Coon Bluff, since that was how they used to travel there. Their path is now blocked by the riverfence and the cattleguard.
Ladybird’s band is recognizable by the interesting combination of colors. They will be 6 horses right now, a massive bay stallion with one white mare and one almost black mare and 3 chestnuts.
If anyone wants to help, you may text pictures to our hotline if you believe you see Tex’s band. Please state the location also. (480) 868-9301 .
We will work hard for happy reunions because we love them, and if there’s a horse who deserves her happily ever after, it’s Ladybird.
Thank you for your support.
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These cattleguards were installed to keep wild horses from entering Bush Hwy last year, and all of our requests to make them safer have not been heard so far.. we have proposed some possible solutions, and they said their MCDOT engineer is looking into it. But we need it NOW. How many horses will it take?
Please listen to a heartfelt plea, please share and please contact MCDOT (politely)
JohnCounts@mail.maricopa.gov
MCDOT phone: 602-506-8628
Sincerely, THANK YOU.
SRWHMG.
6 hours later
After a long morning of searching, we have good news! It was volunteers Catherine and Bryan who eventually found them…but more than 30 volunteers plus supporters have been searching for Tex’s band; too many to thank individually, but you know who you are and we appreciate you!
Ladybird will get her happily ever after so now its time to celebrate! MCDOT promises to have some answers for us later this week, so let’s hope that Ladybirds suffering in the cattle guard was not in vain.
Thank you again to our horse hero MCSO Deputy Bradshaw, SRWHMG volunteers Randy, Thomas, Glenn and Simone and Rural Metro Fire Department, for saving her life.