Wednesday, July 17th, 2024, was a typical sunny morning at the Hummingbird Recreation Area Patrol Cabin, east of Banff and Jasper National Parks. On duty as a site steward for Friends of the Eastern Slopes, Marie Demyen Lysak had just put her young Quarter Horse ‘Apache’ into the round pen. But her 29-year-old Quarter Horse X Arabian, ‘Drifter’, had other ideas. “I think he decided to head for home, about 150 kilometres away [by road]!” recalls Marie, who lives on a farm east of Rocky Mountain House with her husband Richard. She hollered at the big chestnut gelding, grabbed a bucket of oats, and hopped in her truck to go after him. Anxious to see his herd-mate leaving him behind, Apache whinnied repeatedly. Drifter whinnied back twice but continued trotting off in the long-stride, drift-like manner that had earned him his name as a young colt. He never looked back.
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Marie stopped for about 20 minutes to assist a young family that needed help with their car and then continued to follow Drifter’s tracks. His trail went out onto the road, then back to the north and up the ridge onto a deer/bighorn sheep trail. “It was difficult footing for an old fellow like him; not somewhere I would ever have ridden him,” she says with a sigh. “I guess he had his own ideas.” By mid-afternoon, a severe hailstorm pummelled the landscape, obliterating all traces of Drifter’s hoof prints as well as Marie’s hope. Would she ever see him again? She left out some feed by the round pen to help draw him back. But to no avail. He never showed up at Del & Judy Whitford’s outfitters camp, about a kilometre from the cabin, nor at Hummingbird’s main campground. Marie surmised that, since he didn’t come back down off that deer trail, he must have gone up along the mountain into the high country. Back at the cabin, she fired up the generator to enable WiFi access via Starlink and made a ‘Lost Horse’ post on Facebook. It was widely shared on people’s personal pages and equine-related groups.
Drifter healthy and happy to be home. He’s put on weight and is babysitting a couple of weanling foals, allowing him to have access to extra feed over the winter but still have a job, which makes him happy.
The horse community rallied to help. Searches were made on foot and by horseback. Park users were asked to watch for him. He was wearing a red halter, and he was shod, so it was obvious he wasn’t a wild horse. And besides, wildies don’t roam this region of Alberta because the vegetation is not suitable for horses. But it is home to wolves, cougars, and grizzly bears! Marie was sick with worry. To make matters worse, on August 1st, massive wildfires raged to the east and north, and Hummingbird was one of several provincial campgrounds that were evacuated and temporarily closed. On August 9th, another big setback. The switchback into Hummingbird washed out, and access to the campground was shut off. “Although I didn’t think he was ill, I worried that, perhaps, Drifter had run away to die. Or he was tangled up somewhere. Or, because he had cataracts, maybe he went over a ledge? In situations like this, your mind wanders. I went back repeatedly over the summer, but there were no hoof prints. No manure piles. Nothing. Honestly, I thought I’d be looking for a body. I had to get closure.”
84 Days Lost, And Counting…
At about 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8th, Marie was at home when her phone began to ‘blow up’ with phone calls and messages. She checked Facebook, and, sure enough, a woman named Jenna Helmer had posted a photo of Drifter standing by the roadside near Highway 40. Jenna’s fiancé, Russel Reinhart, had been driving through the area after a hunting trip. He spotted the wayward horse and took the time to stop and take a photo, texting it to Jenna as soon as he got to an area with cell phone service. “My first feeling was panic [upon seeing the post],” said Marie. “I started to cry because I could see from the photo that he was in rough shape. My truck and horse trailer were already hooked up. I loaded up supplies, in case I had to stay overnight, and left to find him.”
Wes and Dallas Welch, long-time residents of Sundre, were driving to Grand Falls at that time. They checked Facebook when they stopped for lunch and saw that Drifter had been sighted. They immediately changed their plans. “As Wes and I drove towards where Drifter had been sighted, we prayed that we’d find him and that we’d be able to catch him,” says Dallas. “We were both very emotional when we drove around the corner, and there he was! It had been about five hours from when he was first spotted. He was still exactly where the ‘pin’ had been dropped on the map! I wept with relief and happiness.” The Welch’s had a bucket and oats in the back of their truck. This time, Drifter responded to the sound of a rattling feed pail. Wes crouched at ground level to allow the very apprehensive and hungry horse to approach with caution. Once the halter was on his head, they determined that the old horse was weak, thin, and severely dehydrated, but there were no signs of injury.
The Welch’s had a bucket and oats in the back of their truck. This time, Drifter responded to the sound of a rattling feed pail. Wes crouched at ground level to allow the very apprehensive and hungry horse to approach with caution. Once the halter was on his head, they determined that the old horse was weak, thin, and severely dehydrated, but there were no signs of injury.
Photo clipped from video taken by Dallas of Wes with a bucket of oats for Drifter
This topographical map shows the location of the Hummingbird Patrol Cabin (on the left), where Drifter wandered off from, and the road where he was found. There is no way to determine how far he travelled over the mountain and through the dense forest, but he was 50 kilometres closer to home.
Fellow horseman Derrick Harmen had also seen the Facebook post and drove out to help. He checked in with Wes and Dallas and then headed north on Highway 40 to meet up with Marie to let her know that Drifter was safe and secured. To say it was an emotional reunion for Marie and Drifter would be an understatement. “Drifter absolutely knew who I was,” exclaimed Marie. “He was initially afraid of Wes, but thank goodness that he trusted that oat bucket!” With Drifter safely loaded in her horse trailer, Marie made the journey home. Derrick drove in front of her all the way to South Fork Road to ensure she got out of the backcountry safely. When she arrived home about 7:00 p.m., the tired old horse started to whinny to his stablemates.
Drifter is very special to our family,” concludes Marie. “He was bred, born, raised, and trained on our farm, then in Sundre. He’s always been a high-energy horse with no ‘quit’ and a big heart. For a 29-year-old, he was in amazing physical shape and had never had any health problems. He is healthy and happy to be home. Our mountain adventurer is home safe, thanks to a caring horse community and the power of social media. If only he could talk.
Drifter rescued, happy to be eating oats!
Lost Your Horse in the Backcountry? Tips to help ensure safety for all
Before heading into the backcountry
- Have current photos of your horse on your phone, so you can post on social media asap
- Attach a luggage tag with your contact information to your saddle
- Attach an I.D. tag with your phone number to your horse’s halter
- Carry your own I.D. on your person
- Ensure that everyone in your group knows who has the truck keys
- Put a pen and paper in your vehicle/saddlebags, in case you need to write a note
Before beginning a search
- Don’t let emotions overrule common sense
- Send someone out to cell phone range to post on relevant Facebook groups, such as Mountain Horse Trips Alberta, Alberta Backcountry Horsemen, etc. Include all pertinent details and a phone number of someone who is within cell range
- Leave a note on your truck and on the community bulletin board at the campsite
- Let people know where you are going and when you plan to return
- Take water, food, and basic first aid supplies in a backpack or saddlebag and be prepared to be out for hours
- Engage others and organize a grid search
Trail riders were on the alert for a lost horse while they explored the ridges and valleys of the Hummingbird Recreation Area. Below are pictures of the vast area they searched parts of looking for Drifter.
Learn more about Hummingbird Recreation Area at open.alberta.ca
Learn more about Friends of the Eastern Slopes at foesa.org
Article by Terri Perrin
About Terri
Terri Perrin, a High River-based retired freelance writer and communications professional. While Terri has written on a multitude of topics for a wide range of industries, her passion is writing about animals. An avid equestrian since the age of nine, she was a member of the Back Country Horsemen of BC for 12 years, and a founding member of the Alberta Backcountry Horsemen. Currently riding ‘shanks pony’, she hopes to find her next heart horse in 2025.
Graphics designed by Tarp for Saddle Up
