It’s every horse owner’s greatest fear. During your morning check you discover your horse is missing. No fence down, no gates open, just a missing horse. All the thoughts that race through your head are bad, just to varying degrees. It’s a nightmare.
For a horse owner in Mid-Missouri Saturday morning, the nightmare became a reality. Their palomino gelding was missing. His heard-mates were unconcerned, but he was definitely gone. They spent two hours combing the pasture and turned up nothing. So they called their local radio station. I took the call.
“I was wondering if you could get something on the air for me?”
We get these calls all the time and, if I can say so myself, we have a pretty good system for dealing with them. “I’ve got something for sale,” gets pointed to the Swap Shop program or a Sales Rep. “My dog or cat is missing (we’ve even had a bird),” we take their information and put it on the daily Pet Patrol. Birthday wishes, Community events, and meeting cancellations, there is a time and a place for that information every day. But what do you do when someone tells you there 1200 lb. animal is loose somewhere near town?
My heart stopped and simultaneously went out to the couple. Decision time. A horse is not your average missing pet. It’s a safety hazard. “Of course I’ll get it on the air for you. Can you tell me a bit more…”
So the horse’s description and last know location went out to all our Saturday morning listeners. I gave the information twice in a twenty minute time period. The phone rang again.
“We found him! Well, they found him. They’ve got him in the arena up at the fairgrounds. Thank you so much!”
That palomino gelding had traveled over five miles and crossed a US Highway. Thankfully there was a big event taking place at the fairgrounds over the weekend and someone recognized the horse from the description they heard on the radio. I received a third call from the owners later in the morning, thanking me again and blessing the effectiveness of broadcast radio.
It was a wonderful end to a horrific circumstance. Thank goodness for quick thinking people, thank goodness for watchful neighbors and yee-haw for local radio with real people on the other side of the mic 24/7. Next time you turn on Pandora or Satellite radio, remember “radio” is more than entertainment, it’s a service to the community. How’s that for a Fresh Perspective.
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