Their riders had become lost on an overgrown trail and entered the riverbed to try to find their way home.
After being stuck belly-deep in quicksand, three horses emerged safely from a Jurupa Valley riverbed where their riders became lost during an afternoon outing.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“They’re all fine,” longtime rider Susi Rowley said Wednesday after she and her 2,000-pound paint horse named Stretch trudged out of the Santa Ana River.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Rowley was especially grateful to a Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department inmate fire crew that used chain saws to cut an escape path from the trouble spot to the riverbank just south of Limonite Avenue, between Marlatt and Dodd streets.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“If they hadn’t cut that trail ...,” Rowley pondered while recounting her group’s exhausting and frustrating ordeal. “They came and made it so simple. It was amazing.”googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The emergency developed during what should have been about a two-hour ride along a looping route through the mostly dry but heavily overgrown riverbed, beginning and ending at Rowley’s home in Mira Loma.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“We do it all the time,” she said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Joining her was her 16-year-old daughter, Abby, and Naunette Martin, also of Mira Loma.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Rowley readily acknowledged that the trouble stemmed from the group’s disregarding a basic safety rule: Stay on established trails.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Instead, they zigzagged through the river water.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“We got lost on an overgrown trail,” Rowley recalled. “It was so overgrown that we didn’t think we could get through.”googleoff: allgoogleon: all
They tried to backtrack, but they hit a dead end. They tried other paths. But those, too, hit dead ends. So they returned to the overgrown crossing and pressed on.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Based on distant landmarks, Rowley knew their general location. So they trudged down a shallow river channel and headed west through 6 to 10 inches of water.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“That’s a big no-no because of (the danger of) quicksand,” Rowley said. “But we didn’t have any choice because we couldn’t get out.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“It was dangerous, but (the riverbed) felt like it was sound.”googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Then the situation worsened dramatically.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“All three of us started sinking ... all the way to (the horses’) bellies,” Rowley said. “So we had to get off. We were up to our knees in spots. And (then) there were spots where we weren’t sinking.”googleoff: allgoogleon: all
But they didn’t panic. And slowly, the riders coaxed their horses out of the sand, one at a time. It wasn’t easy.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
“They’d get stuck again and start thrashing around,” Rowley said.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
As the horses approached exhaustion, the riders reached for their cellphones.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
They called Rowley’s husband, a couple of friends – and 911.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The crews of three fire engines and a ladder truck were dispatched. They called for the inmate fire crew with the chain saws.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
And the Norco Animal Rescue Team mobilized in case specialized rigging and expertise were needed. County animal control officers also showed up.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Rowley began whistling, and firefighters soon found the stranded group.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Slowly and carefully, the horses and riders were escorted along the newly cut trail to the riverbank. The horses were tired. One had superficial scratches on its legs. And Rowley had wet sand in her hair, ears and mouth.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
But her husband brought a horse trailer. And soon the three horses and riders were home.googleoff: allgoogleon: all
The moral of the story?googleoff: allgoogleon: all
Said Rowley: “We’re going to stay on the main trail.”