Zip found in a cornfield after wandering for 5 days

Mineral Springs – "If he had not talked to me, I probably wouldn't have seen him."

Richard and Vonn Stone were about 30 hours into a to-day mounted search for Zip, a 10-year-old Appaloosa, when Richard Stone heard a horse whinny.

"I told my wife that her horse whinnied at me, and she said "That wasn't my horse," Richard Stone said.

It was then that the Stones said they saw a pair of ears flickering just above the corn row in a nearby field and realized they had found Zip – a 10-year-old Appaloosa that had been missing for over five days.

Marilyn Loughrun of Monroe, who bought Zip for her 13-year-old grandson Jared Roberts of Mineral Spring, said Zip became spooked on Aug. 15 and threw a rider before heading for the hills. After hours of searching in fading daylight, Loughrun said they realized Zip was not going to be found so easily. "It was like he just vanished," she said.

But by Monday morning, the Stones said dozens of other horse lovers in the county had heard about Zip's disappearance and sprung into high gear. "They just called and said ‘We are coming,' and it was just fabulous," Loughrun said.

The Stones are members of Mounted Search and Rescue Carolina, a group of about 11 equestrians who Richard Stone said will saddle up and search for anyone or anything that goes missing.

Richard Stone, a former Union County Commissioner, said that they look for about six or seven horses a year, which are usually found in a few hours. "This was a very unusual case," he said.

So what was Zip doing in the middle of a corn field only 2 miles from home? Richard Stone said he thinks the horse became confused by the crop rows. "Because he was trapped in there he thought it was a huge corral he could not get out of," he said, and added that Zip bolted over to Stone's Belgian horse, Thor, and fellow Appaloosa, Sundance and began to nuzzle them and whinny. Fortunately, Stone said, the reins had fallen behind the saddle horn, behind a stirrup strap and around one leg, leaving Zip free to move and uninjured.

By 3 p.m., Richard Stone said Zip was back in his own barn a little thirsty but no worse for the wear. "He was fine, and the fact of the matter is I was amazed," Richard Stone said. "He was as sound as anything I have ever seen. That is a tough horse."

Read Zip's account of his ordeal in From the Horse's Mouth.