Mini horse stuck in road freed from cattle guard

PHOENIX —How did Coffee, the miniature horse, cross the road?

Very carefully, and with the help of an animal-control officer, a neighbor and a ranch hand.

Someone called the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office at 6 a.m. Wednesday to report that a miniature horse was stuck in a cattle guard built into the roadway on Sycamore Canyon Road near Clarkdale, a town sandwiched between Jerome and Cottonwood along State Route 89A.

It was still dark, and drivers were having trouble seeing the horse, according to a Sheriff's Office statement.

Working together, a sheriff's animal-control officer, a neighbor and a ranch hand used straps around Coffee's midsection to lift her up and maneuver her free from the cattle guard.

The ranch hand returned Coffee to a "secure area" of the ranch and called in a veterinarian. According to the statement, the horse only had a minor injury to her leg from when she fell into the the cattle guard.