Some horses just want to go for a quick dip. A horse like Rebel Rover? They want to test the absolute limits of their physical ability and swim 7 miles in the west stuff- all while scaring the crap out of their trainers.
Image: KRON4
“It’s not normal at all,” Rebel Rover’s trainer Brad Smith told CNN. “We use swimming as part of most horses routine training program however this is in a controlled environment, in a pool and for no more than 5-10 minutes. It was a very unusual quite a frightening occurrence.”
Rover chose to stay in a little longer, creating a 90-minute rescue mission to save the five-year-old gelding as it trudged along into deep waters.
Known particularly for his mischievous manner, Rebel is high strung and hasn’t gone without some problems.
The rescue mission efforts were unlike anything the squadron had encountered before. Since the horse couldn’t be communicated with, it was important to keep Rebel as unstressed as possible while slipping rope around the horse to lasso him to the boat. When all was said and done, the horse was released injury free.
“We call him Rebel because that’s what he is. He is generally a nice horse to do anything with but is prone to erratic behavior in certain situations.”
