Teens kayaking near horses noticed something unusual—what they found led to a life-saving rescue

The teens' excitement turned into worry and eventually into courage as they went out of their way to save a life.

PUBLISHED AUG 2, 2025

(L) Horses getting refreshed by river bank. (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels|Quang Nguyen Vinh), (R) Young women paddling boat notice something unusual. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images| People Images)

Two friends, Anna Gleig and Ava Haddad, were enjoying the thrilling scenery at the Kananaskis River in Canada when they spotted something unusual and jumped into action to save a life, CBC News reported. They were enjoying paddling through as they watched horses on the bank of the river. It was a serene sight that had them excited. Suddenly, their excitement withered at an upsetting visual. The duo realized the need to help, so they went out of their way and undertook a rescue task all by themselves.

Teenage friends paddle through waters in boat. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by FotoimperiyA)

"We were kind of freaking out there because there's a massive horse that's just in the water stopping us from continuing," Haddad recalled. Turns out, the huge horse was only a worried mother trying to rescue her baby. The friends saw a foal stuck in the corner of the river in distress. "And then we look to our right and there's this baby horse pinned against the concrete part of the bridge, unable to move or get out,” Haddad remarked. The little creature was crying out for help. The duo was determined to save him. Gleig, being a lifeguard, tried to figure out a plan. “I spent a lot of time in the river, so it was kind of using that sort of training," she noted.

A herd of beautiful free horses near the river drink water. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Yuliya Apansenka)

They made their way paddling towards the foal. Haddad tried to get a hold of the creature. “Ava ended up paddling the boat to the other side while I held on to this horse,” she mentioned. In the process, the mother horse got scared and ran away. However, they persisted in their attempt to get the foal out. "Somehow, we were able to drag him across the river stream, back to the safer bank," Gleig noted. "He didn't fight back against us. He just let us take him, so that worked out really well,” Haddad added. It was noted that the animal may have seemed huge to the human eye, being around 80 pounds. However, he was only a week old or so.

Single horse running frantically across river. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by LUDMILA KOLIADITSKAYA)

Unfortunately, the entire herd, including the mother, had run off in the rescue process. The young women hoped that the herd would return so they could reunite with the foal. "We were stuck with him. We tried to leave him in the sun, hoping that the mom would come back if we weren't there,” Gleig said. Despite a wait of an hour and a half, no one showed up. The teens couldn’t leave the foal alone as he was constantly trying to wander and hop off into the water again. "I think he just didn't want to be left alone, which was really sweet but made it a little bit more complicated for us,” she mentioned. The duo decided to put the foal in their boat.

Foal wandering alone in river, scared and distressed. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by Жанна Алимкулова)

“I ended up putting my life-jacket on him and picking him up and putting him in the boat with us," one of the friends said, adding that the little thing cooperated. Eventually, they found a local and showed him a picture of the foal and he recognized him. Ready to help, he quickly put the creature into his truck to transport him back safely. "It was a good ending, which made it a good day," Haddad remarked. She added, "He has this second chance at life. If we weren't there, he probably wouldn't be here today."