A woman was driving through Valparaiso, Indiana when she saw something strange lying on the railroad tracks. At first she couldn’t figure out what the brown shape was. When she got closer, it turned out to be a horse with a hoof stuck in one of the tracks.
Not only that, but the horse was pregnant. Knowing that a train could be coming through at any time, she got out of her car to see what she could do to help. But the woman wasn’t alone. Several other motorists also stopped to offer aid.
The good Samaritans came up with a plan to rescue the horse. They took nylon straps and tied them around the horse in order to get her to her feet. But another problem remained. The horse risked getting another hoof stuck in the tracks.
The motorists came up with a plan to avoid that as well. They used plastic tables for the horse to walk one. They were also helped in their effort by local authorities, who managed to stop an approaching train well before it reached this part of the line. At first, the horse resisted efforts to pull her off the tracks. But with a little encouragement from the motorists, she let them guide her off the tracks to safety.
So how did the horse become stuck on the rails in the first place? According to her owner, fireworks had gone off at a nearby Fourth of July celebration. That spooked the horse, who broke out of her stall and ran off. The horse was returned to her owner, suffering only minor injuries.