$5,000 reward offered for horse lost in Wickenburg
WICKENBURG, Ariz. - A woman who is visiting the Valley is pleading for help in finding her lost endurance horse, after it ran off following an accident. Now, a local man has stepped up by offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who can help bring this horse home.
Lori Van Zuyen, who is visiting from Washington state, says she's never had this happen to her before, and is hoping to get her horse, Ameera, back.
Van Zuyen was just a few miles into her endurance ride on Feb. 27 at Boyd Ranch in Wickenburg when her horse got spooked and bolted.
"I saw her run over the hill, and I got up," said Van Zuyen. "I got up right off the ground and pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Boyd management."
Van Zuyen has had Ameera for seven years She says the grey Arabian Mare is tough, and in good shape.
"Unless she’s hung up on something, I can’t imagine her not surviving," said Van Zuyen. "Arabians are desert-bred horses. Tough, hardy, they are meant to survive in the desert."
Van Zuyen says she’s never been in this situation before, but she’s holding on to hope.
"I think she's still out there somewhere," Van Zuyen said. "I have talked to several other people that that has happened to."
One of those people is Lucian Spataro.
"It resonated with me because I lost a horse myself back in 2008, so I'm going through some of the same sort of feelings that she’s going through, with her losing her horse now too," said Spataro.
Spataro and his wife contributed to the reward, now making it $5,000 for the person who ever finds the horse.
"It’s really an isolated feeling to not know if your horse has been rescued and found, and is still out there a couple of days after the event," said Spataro.
Anyone with information can contact Van Zuyen at (509) 727-1920.
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