WHITEHALL — Some horse owners are breathing a sigh of relief on Friday after their horses were reported missing from a ranch in Whitehall on Thursday. Well, they’ve now been found in a field less than a mile away from where they went missing.
“I cried! I mean, I had hand-raised my baby horse, I had petted him when he was three days old, so my youngest, that was like losing a child,” said horse owner Missy Pope.
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Pope and others now have their children—or, horses—safely back after 14 of them from the Salvagni Ranch went missing on Jan. 16. Tom Salvagni, who pastures horses for people at this Whitehall ranch, said the past 24 hours have been a challenge.
“Well, to be honest, it’s been kind of like hell,” said Tom Salvagni.
Some owners were concerned the horses may have been stolen and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was contacted.
“Of course, livestock does get out, but they just like, they vanished. I honestly don’t know how they got here,” said Salvagni.
The owner of the ranch added he has a theory that these horses were spooked by a mountain lion because one was reported in this area about a week ago, and these horses are certainly very skittish.
“They’re in the field, we’ve got a happy ending and the owners are getting their critters and we’re going to take care of however they got off the property,” said Salvagni.
How do you feel?
“Ecstatic, I’m glad to have them home,” Pope said. “Those are our children.”
