Horses in History: River Rescues, Mare Suicides & False Teeth

Leaping small children, towing airplanes, and rescuing people, dogs, and other horses was all in the day of a life of a vintage equine, apparently.

Before the automobile made regular and daily interaction of horses and the human masses virtually obsolete, astonishing horse stories of thrills, spills, and rescues were a journalists bread and butter. Or at least, that’s what I must assume based on the thousands of stories in our newspaper archives to that end.

1.  Loose Livestock Leaps Little One, Child Cheats Death

Boston Post, April 10, 1833

2. Sagacity of the Horse — “Natty” Saves Drowning Rider

The Weekly Gleaner – North Carolina – January 27, 1829

3. That Glorious and Brief Intersection of Technology Wherein a Horse Might Rescue an Airplane

The Havre Daily News – Montana – October 22, 1928

4. A Police Officer and His Steed Save Seven Dames

Manitowoc Herald Times – Wisconsin – October 18, 1927

5. Are There STILL Such Things as False Horse Teeth?

Chicago Tribune – January 6, 1905

(Story text reads: Bedford, Pa., Jan 5 – [Special] – While playing on the pavement in front of her home Ruth O’Hara, a small child, fell under the feet of a horse. The child’s mother looked on in horror, expecting to see her crushed to death. But the horse backed away from the child, then grasped the little one’s skirts with his teeth, and lifter her gently upon the curb. The horse lost two molars in the operation, and the grateful parents of the little child are going to get him some crockery teeth.)

6. A Man, a Waterfall, and the Luckiest Team of Horses Who Ever Lived:

Monroeville Breeze – October 15, 1890

7. A BLIND HORSE. You can’t make this stuff up. Or, if you did make this stuff up, you are very smart. (and very old.)

The Inter Ocean – Chicago – November 3, 1900

8. Horse Saves Other Horse from “Quickmire,” Lassie Style!

San Francisco Chronicle – December 2, 1900

9. Of course, every once in awhile, we saved them, too. And promptly put them back to work.

Daily News Democrat – Indiana – January 8, 1904

10. OF COURSE, it’s always the MARES that are attempting suicide.

The North Tribune – Nebraska – April 1, 1913

Go Riding.