Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary, Healing Hearts, and other veterinarians were invited onto the Havasupai reservation to help treat the horses used on Grand Canyon tours.
"We worked with the tribe in order to really take care of the horses," said Ricky William, Ranch Manager with Equine Voices. "We did vaccinations, trimming, teeth floating and deworming."
They invited the tribal community to bring their animals to receive treatment. They also wanted to educate members how to properly care for horses.
Many of the horses work day in and day out as to provide rides to tourists up and down the canyon.
One tribal member offered to give his horse up to animal control.
'Samson' was injured and in bad condition after being beaten and neglected for years.
"He was one of the wrangler's horses so he was just riding up and down the canyon several times a day and did it for a good eight years," said Williams.
It took the teams nearly five hours to get up the canyon with Samson, who is blind.
Samson's eye was punched out by his owner and his weight is nearly 200 pounds below a healthy weight. He also had scars on his back from the heavy packs on his back.
While Samson was being rescued, he was jumping at least three feet in the air. Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary say his behavior shows he experienced a lot of abuse and neglect.
The sanctuary says they're teaching Samson how to be a horse, socializing and getting used to people.
