Horse, owner doing fine

Buy a print

- Jose Leiva/Sun Journal

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.

eadams@sunjournal.com