Another week, another poor horse saved by the kindness of strangers. This time it was a 20-year-old mare that apparently “wandered off” into a field on the owner’s ranch during a snowstorm.
And what a storm. According to local Colorado reports, the storm that hit the Denver area on March 13 was one of the largest in the state’s history. Not great timing for a horse to take a stroll.
The ranch owner was away, but his son called for help. Who did he call? A local volunteer organization called the Dads of Castle Rock, a group of ‒ you guessed it ‒ dads that formed in 2018 to forge a sense of community and bonding among the men.
Since 2019 it’s been an official non-profit that does fundraising to help the local community ‒ more than $170,000 over the past two years ‒ including an “adopt a family” during Christmas. But on this day, it was all about the horse.
The mare was covered in coats while she was extricated from the huge drift.
According to a press report in the Parker Chronicle , vice president of Dads of Castle Rock, Brad Langerak, got the call around 4:30 pm and headed out to help. His own vehicle got trapped in the heavy snow and he had to be helped out. When he arrived and found the horse it was buried in snow along a fenceline.
It took six hours, 15 “dads” and a tractor to slowly drag the shivering animal into the barn, although apparently the last bit saw the tractor stuck in the deep snow as well, leaving the men to drag the horse the last stretch on a tarp.
During the rescue, the mare was covered in the men’s coats and once she was in the barn was given water and food. She appears to be doing well.
“In the end, we were completely gassed and tired, but we were hooting and hollering when we got that horse into the barn,” Langerak told the Parker Chronicle. “This is exactly what the Dads of Castle Rock is all about. There were guys I have never met before showing up, risking their lives, and risking their vehicles to save this horse. It was a remarkable experience.”
The group’s Facebook page featured photos of the rescue along with this caption:
“When Vice President of Dads of Castle Rock Brad Langerak put out a call for help of a stranded horse North of the Meadows, the dads came out in force… A long night, with a happy ending to the story. Special shoutout to Trish, Heather, and Josh for helping us out big time with the tractor, and your expertise, couldn’t have done it without you all. Great work everyone.”
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