Broken Caltrans water main washed out trail

Trail closed after horse tumbles down embankment after sinking through muddied path.

By Robert Chacon
News-Press

November 4, 2003

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — A ruptured water main responsible for washing out a portion of the Flint Canyon Wash Trail and causing a horse to fall down an embankment has been shut off and the trail closed, officials said Monday.

"We want the trail to dry out before people begin using it again," said Steve Castellanos, director of public works for the city of La Cañada Flintridge.

The busted main, which belongs to the California Department of Transportation, came to the attention of city staff Saturday morning when a horse being ridden by La Cañada Flintridge resident Kathleen Kulper sunk chest deep in mud before tumbling 12 feet down an embankment above a creek bed.

Neither the horse, which was rescued, nor its rider were injured in the fall, Kulper said Monday.

"I was riding on the [trail] into the arroyo when I saw a puddle of water that didn't seem bad," she said. "When the horse skirted the puddle, it's hind legs sunk into the mud and I jumped off the horse."

Kulper tried to help the horse out of the puddle only to have its front legs sink deeper. The animal, named Chief, broke through the muddy ground and tumbled down the embankment.

"The whole side of the hill was totally liquefied," Kulper said. As the horse tried to regain its footing, it sunk deeper into the muddy hillside.

About 30 emergency workers from the L.A. County Fire Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Montrose Search and Rescue responded to calls of the downed horse about 10 a.m. Saturday.

The rescue took place under the Foothill (210) Freeway at the Berkshire offramp behind the Flint Canyon Tennis Club, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage said.

During the rescue, a veterinarian sedated the horse. About forty emergency workers pulled the 1,200-pound horse out of the creek bed after it had been placed on a sled, Kulper said.

After the horse woke up, it was walked out on its own, but was "exhausted from a very traumatic experience," Savage said.