Tow truck helps bystanders pull horse out of ditch after crash on i-35e "tx"

[TowZone]

A rescue horse that was hours from retirement nearly didn't make it to her new home after a crash along Interstate 35E in Dallas on Friday. 

The horse named Noel collapsed after her trailer was involved in an accident, KTVT-TV (Channel 11) reported.

When the driver went to check on her, the malnourished horse fell out of the trailer into a ditch. 

Recently rescued from a kill lot in Louisiana, Noel was being taken to Denton to live in retirement with Circle G Carriage Co.'s other old horses. 

Some bystanders said they were afraid Noel would have to be put down next to the freeway. Todd Genuit, who was the first person to stop and help, said he tried to comfort the horse. 

"My first thought was, they're going to shoot the horse," he told Channel 11. "We were just so afraid she was going to have a heart attack or just die there."

But Noel's luck improved after her owner, Cat Poage, saw she was trying to stand. Dallas County sheriff's deputies were able to flag down a construction loader and a wrecker to lift the horse. 

And after two hours of trying, the wrecker was finally able to get Noel back on her hoofs. 

"To see people come together to help an animal," Genuit said. "It was neat to be a part of and it wasn't that cold after a while."

RESOURCE LINK