Horse survives 70 mph fall

Posted: Jul 19, 2012 8:37 PM by Jacqui Heinrich
Updated: Jul 19, 2012 8:39 PM

Talk about defying the odds: a horse fell off a trailer moving at 70 miles per hour down I-25 near Walsenburg...and survived.

MJ Anderson was driving down the highway when a people in a truck pulled up alongside her vehicle and motioned to her that the door to her trailer was open. When she stopped, the gate was unlatched and Sparky was gone.

The horse had taken quite the tumble but somehow managed to skid down the highway standing on all fours, which may have saved his life.

Sparky's veterinarian, Dr. Randy Paker, says it's a miracle he's alive. "When he stepped off the trailer he had 4 shoes on. When they found him on the side of the interstate he didn't have any shoes on. When MJ told me they were going 70 mph down I-25 I thought there's just no way he can survive. This is definitely a medical miracle."

Though Sparky took a nose dive and lost all his front teeth, damaged his feet and legs, and sustained some serious road rash, he's expected to make a full recovery. The news comes as a relief to his owner, who still has no idea how the trailer door became unlocked. "He says, 'It's not my time', and I sure don't want it to be. He means a lot to me," Anderson says with a tearful smile. "He's amazing."