Posse helps find runaway horse

A Genoa woman on a ride to Marlette Lake was injured Nov. 30 when her horse spooked, threw her and ran off about four miles from Highway 50.

The woman was taken to the hospital, but the incident happened in the afternoon and her black horse would have been impossible to find in the dark, according to Larry Phelps of the sheriff's mounted posse.

"The husband contacted my wife and by 9 a.m. Monday we had several people ready to go," Phelps said.

Searchers were concerned that the horse might try to return home to Genoa, crossing busy Highway 50 and causing an accident.

More than a dozen members of the posse and the Backcountry Horsemen gathered with their mounts on Monday morning and searched the mountains between Highway 50 and Marlette.

Phelps said the Backcountry Horsemen located the throroughbred at about 2 p.m. Dec. 1.

"It was in a relatively busy area and as big a horse as he is, it was good that he was found," he said.

The mounted posse is working with the Douglas County Search and Rescue to do more large animal and horseback rescues.

"We've been parade people and a volunteer group, but we've decided to get into something a little more active," he said. "We're coordinating with the search and rescue because they've concluded that sitting on a horse gives someone a better view."

The posse meets 6 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month in the Law Enforcement Judicial Building in Minden.

For more information or to join, contact President Jerry Palmer, 782-2509, or Membership Chairman Mike Murphy, 782-1991.