Abandoned horse wanders into our campsight!

For vacation, we decided to going camping up in the mountains of eastern Arizona. While camping, an old abandoned horse wandered into our camp sight. We had his brand traced and found out it is an old brand that hasn't been used in over 20 years! He was in very poor shape, terribly dehydrated and underweight - we just couldn't leave him. We checked with local sheriffs office and forest service to make sure he wasn't a lost horse someone was looking for - he wasn't. So, with the help of some great horse lovers that brought their horse trailer out to where we were camping - no easy feat seeing as we were 13 miles off the main road. We had to find Butterscotch - as he now goes by, as he had wandered away from where we were camping. Once we found him and led him to the trailer - oh the look on his face when he saw the trailer. His ears perked up and he started licking and chewing, a sure sign he was very happy he was being rescued. He loaded into the trailer faster than I have ever seen a horse load! He spent the first couple of months recouping at a ranch up in Payson Arizona. A vet came out to check him - he is approximately 25-30 years old. The vet says it appears he was attacked by a mountain lion recently as he has claw marks on both sides and bite marks on his rump. Last week we brought him down to the Phoenix area to spend the winter. Hopefully the mild winter will help with the apparent arthritis he has. He is looking much better now and is a happy guy!

Jeff
Gilbert, AZ