Frosty the horse was rescued from the brink of death after he was found partially submerged in a frozen Lehman Creek in January, and with support from local communities and horse-lovers across the country, he's recovered and settling into his new life.
A resident had found the animal trapped in the stream near the resort village of Cochin, Sask., and the village’s mayor, Mark Pattinson, and his friend Ed Scott were able to rescue Frosty.
When they were finally able to pull him free, they knew immediately that he wasn’t in good condition.Â
“We were very close to getting the RCMP officer to take his life, but we gave it a few more seconds and he scrambled himself to his feet and just started walking,” Pattinson had told a CBC reporter back in January. Frosty made it all the way to a maintenance shop, where he had to wait for help.Â
Frosty refused to give up, and his spirit has yet to be broken.Â
Frosty’s owner had passed away, and he needed someone new to take care of him.Â
Pattinson knew the horse needed medical attention, and began calling around local horse owners. All of them refused to take him in, until Pattinson called Leslie-Ann Smith, a local farmer.Â
“I didn't know what to expect and it was worse than I ever expected. This horse was skinny and covered in ice and looks so dull," Smith said, recalling the moment she and her husband, Gerry Smith, first saw Frosty.
Smith and her husband were ready to do the work to ensure Frosty could recover.Â
They loaded him up a trailer and took him to Lakeland Veterinary Service to get treated for his injures. Frosty had to stay for a whole week, as his injuries were extensive.
Smith says he had a hernia from the strain of trying to get out of the creek, and the hernia had ruptured out of his left leg.
Horse with no home saved from frozen creek near Cochin, Sask.
His recovery took weeks, with many trips back and forth to the veterinarian and multiple different kinds of therapies.
Those were expensive treatments, but aid came in quickly for the couple. Smith had shared Frosty’s story on social media, which helped it spread across the country.
“Money just started coming in directly to the vet, some was sent to us. So that helped cover his bills,” Smith said. They had people reach out from across the country, even as far out as Nova Scotia, who wanted to know how Frosty was doing and what he needed.