Missing Terrell County horse located in ditch

ALBANY — A horse that was reported stolen from Terrell County was found Monday afternoon in an irrigation ditch, owner Laura Davis said.

The horse, Cheyenne, was alive, but stuck in mud that had collected over his hooves and was standing in water.

“I’m so happy,” Davis said of finding Cheyenne alive. “He has been missing for three and a half weeks.”

She said that a local farmer, Bubba Lamberth, spotted Cheyenne while he was scouting cotton.

“I am so grateful to Bubba,” Davis said. “I have had all the neighbors and farmers looking for him.”

She said extracting Cheyenne from the horse’s position was no easy task.

“We got a backhoe and lifted him up out of it,” Davis said. “The mud was a foot above his knee.”

She said Cheyenne was immediately transported to veterinarian Jinny Lee, who checked the 5-year-old horse for injuries.

“The vet said he was dehydrated,” Davis said. “When we got him home, we gave him a bath and soaked his feet in iodine because he was standing in water.”

She said Cheyenne was happily munching on oats and hay safely in his stall by nightfall.

Davis said even though she found Cheyenne alive and moderately well, she is still suspicious.

“I don’t want to say somebody stole him,” she said. “But, I don’t think a horse could survive for several weeks stuck in mud without food or water.”

Davis said the area where Cheyenne was found had been searched before and it was unlikely for searchers to miss the horse for several weeks.

She said that Cheyenne went missing from his stall on Oct. 23.

Neighbors reported seeing a dark vehicle pulling a green horse trailer with Florida tags pull into Davis’ property around midnight on Oct. 23.

Early the next morning, Davis said she found Cheyenne’s stall door had been cut in two and was leaning on the wall of the stall and the horse missing.

“I don’t know why my stall door would be cut in two,” she said. “I know a horse could not have done it.”

Davis said in addition to reporting the incident to the Terrell County Sheriff’s Office she also enlisted the help of Stolen Horse International, a North Carolina nonprofit organization that assists horse owners in finding their lost or stolen animals.

“They have been a big help,” she said. “They do so much.”

Davis said finding Cheyenne still will not deter her from taking more severe security measures.

“We are going to have all kinds of security,” she said. “We have cameras installed in the barn and pastures and all throughout the property.”

Davis said she is also in the process of creating a neighborhood watch group in case other incidents like this happen.