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A North Carolina man on a family trip to the Outer Banks rescued a three-day-old horse that had gotten trapped in a canal.
Owen Carson was on a fishing trip in Carova with his brother-in-law and father-in-law, Jeff and George Kipp, when they noticed a young horse struggling at the seawall of a canal and quickly decided to help, WCNC reports.
"We all just kind of decided, 'you know what, forget about penalties or anything like that, we can deal with that later. We're just going to save this horse because it's not going to make it if we don't,'" Carson told the news outlet.
The group called for rescue crews and Carson ended up in the water, gently guiding the young horse to a boat slip. They briefly managed to get to safety before the horse got back in the water.
"So I jumped back into the water and got it again," said Carson. "I brought it back up to the grass and just gave it a little nudge. It walked up to the mom and immediately started nursing. It was a wild experience."
Corolla Wild Horse Fund took to Facebook on Wednesday (July 14) to introduce Beatrice, who was born Saturday (July 10), saying she had "an exciting first few days." The young horse had a difficult time nursing and bonding with her mother after she was born, but they quickly figured things out. On Tuesday, however, they got the call that Beatrice had gotten trapped in the canal.
"Thank goodness there were three fishermen right there who were able to get Beatrice out of the water," the organization wrote. "Owen, Jeff, and George — you saved this filly's fate."
"I feel like I have an obligation and other humans should feel an obligation and responsibility to be good stewards for the environment," said Carson. "When you see a wild animal struggling and you can help it out, do it ... if you can do it safely, or call someone to help. We as human beings should care about all living things and if we have the opportunity to step in and help, we should."