Frightened horses escape fire’s wrath

Many Agoura Hills residents had more to evacuate than photos and sentimental keepsakes during last week’s wildfires.

For local equestrians, the fires that raged throughout the region meant that their horses and other large animals were in danger and had to be moved to safer grounds.

Mayor Pro Tem Denis Weber was in the middle of a city council meeting when the news broke that the fire was near Chesebro Road and the Pony Club, where Weber houses his 26-year old Morgan, named Starboy.

Caitlin Steimle, 18, was one of several young Pony Club members who worked tirelessly to move the horses out of harm’s way. Although firefighters instructed Steimle to vacate the club, she said she refused to leave until the last horse, Starboy, was evacuated. At around 10 p.m. Weber arrived, rolled up his sleeves and walked Starboy to safety at Buck Wicall’s ranch off of Driver Ave.

“He was the last one to go because he doesn’t trailer very well,” said Weber, grateful that Steimle stayed with the horse.

“My horse was scared and it was dark and the smell of ashes was nerve-racking for him,” Weber said. “The horses on both sides of Chesebro were whinnying, calling to each other. They (didn’t) know if help was coming.”

“It was so chaotic,” said Steimle, who explained that Pony Club trainer Alison Burt, 22, and three of her friends, Katie Brown, Peter Penna, and Andrew Casey— all recent Agoura High School graduates—evacuated 17 horses from the Pony Club earlier on Wednesday, but by midnight, horse owners in Old Agoura “started to get desperate.” Some people, she said, waited too long to evacuate their horses.

Many of the horses were initially let loose in the public arena in Old Agoura. Steimle said that about 40 horses were then hauled out—horses from the Pony Club were brought to Zacharosa Ranch in Malibu while horses from Old Agoura were trailered to Malibu Valley Ranch.

Some of the horses were taken to White Cloud Ranch near Kanan Road, while other horses, along with pigs, goats, alpacas and llamas, were evacuated to Pierce College, the Thousand Oaks Equestrian Center, and eventually to the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Steimle, Burt, Brown, Penna and Casey, evacuated horses until 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning and spent the next two days bringing them home. Over a five day period, Steimle said she slept a total of 10 to 12 hours.

Old Agoura resident Angela Agpawa credited the four Pony Club youth for transporting so many horses to safety. Agpawa said they deserved a “hero’s parade.”

Larry Brown and Ron Troncatty, members of the Old Agoura Rangers, loaded horses into trailers from the Old Agoura public arena from early Thursday morning until Friday evening. Old Agoura residents Patricia Hess and Cyrena Nouzille also helped with the frantic evacuation.

“It was a wild event,” Hess said, “. . .unlike anything I had gone through before. It was frightening, (but) so many people were so helpful. It makes you appreciate that you live in a small community where people care about each other.”

Hess, who ordinarily keeps her horses on a pasture in Calabasas, said it seemed that her horses understood the emergency.

“One horse that (ordinarily) didn’t trailer well, walked in perfectly,” she said. After smelling the smoke, the horses were “ready and willing” to go, she said.

Steimle’s hard work ended Sunday afternoon, but not well.

She said that while she was moving the last three horses back to the Pony Club, a car pulled out in front of her trailer and suddenly stopped. Steimle swerved into a ditch to avoid the vehicle and hit the side of a mountain.

Nevertheless, the horses and Steimle persevered and ended the five-day emergency a little shaken, very tired, and extremely grateful for living in a community that cares so much about its equestrian lifestyle.