The fully tacked horse missing in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park has been found and safely reunited Friday with its owners.
Sue, a 15-year-old palomino gelding, went missing during a packing trip in the remote region near Yellowstone's Bechler Ranger Station on Oct. 9.
He was found only half a mile from Dunanda Falls, where he'd first wandered off.
"My sister Paige is finally reunited with Sue," Morgan D’Ambra, who coordinated the search and rescue effort to recover the missing horse, told Cowboy State Daily. "He's very happy to be home."
Slipped Away
D’Ambra and her family live in Idaho’s Teton Valley.
She and her sisters were enjoying an outing near the Bechler River Soldier Station that evening, the park’s most remote and least-traveled entrance near the Idaho-Wyoming state line.
“It was around 6:30 p.m. Friday,” D’Ambra said. “My sisters got separated from us around Dunanda Falls when he slipped and fell, and Paige got stuck underneath him."
Paige Chavez was fine, but she lost her glasses in the fall.
Disoriented, she couldn’t see Sue as the horse got up and scampered into the wilderness.
The group spent an hour searching, but it quickly got too dark to make any meaningful progress.
"We rode back on Saturday, and my friends went out again Sunday. Nothing,” D’Ambra said. "I drove every service road out there, hit every hunting camp, flagged anybody I passed on the road down, but I haven’t heard anything."
D'Ambra wasn't too concerned about Sue's ability to survive. He was familiar with the area and was lost in an area with plenty of water and grass to keep himself going.
The primary concern was that Sue was fully tacked when he went missing. His bridle, reins, and saddle could hamper his ability to find food and shelter, or get tangled in a tree preventing any movement at all, D’Ambra said.
Their best hope to find Sue was Paige's cellphone, which was still in the horse's saddle.
D'Ambra reached out to Verizon, hoping the company could ping the phone and give them an approximate location, but Verizon refused.
"I’m hoping that he's on a great grazing vacation, but he’s still out there,” D'Ambra said on Monday. “We are really hoping for a good outcome."
Then, they got their good outcome.
Sue Safe
The horse was safely rescued, with all his tack intact, around 2 p.m. Friday.
"He was half a mile from Dunanda Falls," D'Ambra said. "My sister and brother-in-law were crossing water on foot, and when she walked up the bank, Sue was looking at her not far away."
The horse was easily approached and recovered. He had no apparent injuries and seemed extremely pleased to be reunited with his owners.
"The only things lost were my bridle, my phone, and a little weight on Sue," Chavez said. "Even though my phone wasn’t on my saddle in the end, I still hate Verizon."
That was the end of what Chavez called Sue’s "stupid lost horse saga."
She said she enjoyed the fact that the weeklong situation started and ended as "a family ordeal. Everyone who entered the Bechler region was informed that Sue was missing and could be recovered, but her family were the ones to find and get him back."
D'Ambra said Sue was obviously overjoyed to return to the family ranch in the Teton Valley.
"He literally ran out of the trailer when we got back to our pasture," she said. "He couldn’t wait to be back with his brothers."
Still Out There
Sue was only lost for a week, but he wasn't the only horse lost in Yellowstone during that time.
Evie, a 6-year-old mustang, escaped from an electrified corral near Yellowstone’s northern boundary in Montana in July. She’s been seen hanging out with a herd of bison near Slough Creek since then.
Multiple attempts to approach and recover Evie have failed.
Her owner has been working with Yellowstone officials to plan a coordinated effort, possibly with wranglers, to get the horse home before winter.
As of Sunday, Evie's still out there. Sue, meanwhile, is back where he belongs.
"I could go on and on, but I want to thank everyone for dealing with my crazy ass all week and being supportive," Chavez said. "I know it wasn’t easy, but Sue is ready to be home to boss his brothers around."
Deja Vu
This is the second rescue story in less than a week in Yellowstone.
Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, was reunited with its owners late last week after being lost in the park for 34 days.
The dog was found relatively unscathed and lost 10 pounds during the ordeal.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
