Horse OK after tumble, dramatic rescue in Gold Bar

GOLD BAR — Teton took a tumble.

The brown-and-white mare somehow survived the 50-foot fall down an embankment Monday afternoon. Firefighters then managed to get the 900-pound animal to safety using a harness, plenty of rope and a pulley system.

Teton was with a group of horses and riders from a nearby ranch. They were using a dirt trail that runs between Reiter Road and the Skykomish River, between Gold Bar and Index.

For some reason, around 3 p.m., Teton bucked. Her rider was thrown to safety. Teton wasn’t so lucky.

Across the river, Arden and Dick King heard yelling.

“In all the years we’ve lived here, we’ve watched those horses go and come and nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Arden, 73. “It was just a freak thing.”

She watched a construction worker who’d been hired by some neighbors run across the river to help. The water was chest-high on his way to Teton.

“He was comforting her and keeping her still and quieting her,” King said. “He had horse sense and was horse-savvy and knew what to do. He was soaking wet when he got back.”

It took Gold Bar fire Lt. Brandon Vargas less than five minutes to get there. At first, the rescuers didn’t know the rider was safe, he said. Friends had taken the rider to a nearby house while some of the others stayed behind.

Two of Gold Bar’s volunteer firefighters who know about horses determined Teton had no broken bones, Vargas said.

“We had to come up with a plan on how to get the horse back up to the trail,” he said. “The horse was getting kind of antsy. Leaving the horse down there for a long period of time was just going to make things worse.”

The Index firefighters happened to have a horse-rescue harness. Vargas has been a firefighter for nearly a decade and has been involved in numerous rescues of people after outdoor mishaps.

“This was a whole new experience for me, to try to get a horse up an embankment,” he said.

The harness was crucial. The crews attached ropes and got a pulley system set up using a tree. The trail was surprisingly muddy, Vargas said.

The firefighters used machetes to clear brush and blackberry bushes. They found a cattle fence among the weeds and cut it out so Teton wouldn’t be impaled if she stumbled again.

A half-dozen people helped pull up the horse, while another used a rope to guide Teton where they needed her to go. She used her hooves to scramble up as they pulled.

“She ended up doing a lot of the work and just following that guide rope,” Vargas said. “She definitely did not want to be down there anymore.”

By 4:05 p.m., Teton was back on the trail and being put into a horse trailer. Her owner whisked her off for medical treatment.

She had some nasty cuts from the fall, but otherwise was OK.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood fully blocks Highway 99

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.