DIXFIELD — Aquila the Arabian horse was contentedly munching hay Wednesday afternoon as her
owner, Leigh Shields, petted and spoke to the gray mare.
The 14-year-old horse seemed to be
recovering well from her two-hour ordeal Tuesday when firefighters
from Dixfield and Canton worked to dislodge her from an old
snowmobile bridge.
About a dozen members of the Dixfield
and Canton fire departments worked to rescue the horse from the bridge off Hall Hill
Road. Shields had just begun the ride when her horse broke through
the rotten boards.
Aquila suffered cuts and bruises; Shields has rubbed both injured hind
legs with antibiotic cream. The legs are swollen from resting on the
beams, and the mare walks a bit stiffly.
Shields discovered that holding Aquila to keep her calm during the extrication resulted in some huge
bruises on her arms, as well. But neither the horse nor her owner
require medical attention, at least for now.
“She settled right down after I
walked her home yesterday,” Shields said. “She grazed a bit and
ate some grain. I think everyone knows what a magnificent horse she
is.”
Aquila's days were almost ended four years
ago in an Augusta slaughterhouse, where she was rescued by a friend of
Shields. The friend's daughter assumed responsibility for the horse,
then found that she couldn't care for her, so Shields traded her old
Dodge Shadow car for the animal that has become like a child to her.
“Aquila gets 40 miles to the bale,” Shields said.
She changed the mare's name from Tequila Sunrise to Aquila,
which is the name of the messenger eagle owned by the Greek god
Zeus.
“I think it's nice that so many
people care about her,” Shields said.
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