This palomino gelding named Dinkelman was lost in the mountains around Potomac during November and found Jan. 11 thin but unharmed.
POTOMAC - Dinkelman, a 16-year-old gelding quarter horse, got lost around Thanksgiving during hunting season on the north side of Potomac. Local snowmobiler and hunter Jeff Hahn found him on Jan. 11 after more than six weeks in the woods.
Lifelong Potomac resident Chad Thurston owns Dinkelman. He has hunted the Potomac area for 15 years, using his horses for riding and packing. Thurston has used Dinkelman for the last three years.
When Thurston hunts, he sometimes has horses at his camp. That particular day Dinkelman got loose at camp and just took off, said Thurston. He could not be found.
After Dinkelman went missing, friends and family went searching for him. "My grandpa went driving the [mountain] roads, looking for any sign of him," Thurston said.
Thurston also put out piles of hay in case he returned. "I felt so bad and that feeling got worse the longer he was gone."
As time went on, Thurston thought he may not have survived.
Hahn was out hunting wolves when he found Dinkelman in snow less than a foot deep above Whittaker Bridge. He was miles from where he was lost.
Right away he knew it was Thurston's because the word had gotten out around Potomac that his horse was missing in that area.
"When I saw the horse, I knew whose it was," Hahn said. Dinkelman came right up to him and Hahn caught him with a dog leash.
Hahn called his friend Tony Knutchel who was on another ridge to get a hold of Thurston. Knutchel called Thurston and snowmobiled out to meet him and bring him in to where the horse was being lead out by Hahn.
Thurston was returning home from work when he heard from Knutchel.
"I was really relieved when I got that phone call," said Thurston.
Thurston then parked his truck and horse trailer and was snowmobiled to where Hahn was leading Dinkelman out.
"He looked in really good shape for being gone that long," said Thurston. "He was a little skinny, though."
Thurston figures Dinkelman bounced around the open ridges looking for feed. Had there been deeper snow, Thurston thinks Dinkelman would have moved down into one of the drainages and been found sooner.
After he brought Dinkelman home he separated him from the rest of the herd to slowly bring his weight up. "I wanted a slow weight gain so he wouldn't colic," Thurston said.
Thurston also pulled Dinkelman's horseshoes off which had been on since hunting season. He usually takes off his horses' shoes before winter because snow has a tendency to create ice balls in most horseshoes.
Equine hooves continually grow and need to be trimmed and if the horse is shod, the shoes must be pulled off, the hoof trimmed and then reshod depending on owner preference.
Dinkelman has a goofy personality, said Thurston. He is a friendly horse and loves as much attention as he can get, which Thurston is providing.
Even though Thurston said he might be looking for a younger horse in the future, Dinkelman will probably go back into the woods. "I will most likely use him again," he said. "Being on the back of a horse is one of the things I enjoy."
Reader Comments(2)
toothfairy writes:
Excellent! Glad to hear he came out of the mountains once again. Your comment about your enjoyment of being on the back of a horse is shared. BTW, the wolf population in the Selway wilderness in Idaho has pretty much destroyed the elk population in the areas I used to hunt. Thanks for being out there to balance the scales. Be well, Doug Hadnot, Lolo and Seeley Lake
01/27/2019, 8:21 pm
Casey writes:
Why is he killing wolves. Thats as bad as horse slaughter. My wolf is sleeping w my cats. Why promote extinction.? Evolve. Its like killing yr dog.
01/27/2019, 12:50 pm