INSIDE EDITION spoke with the owners and rescuers of William the horse, who was stranded two miles out to sea.
It was an amazing rescue of a horse that was swept out to sea. Now, only INSIDE EDITION was there as a little girl and her "sea horse" are reunited.
14-year-old Kendyl Peters kissed her horse William, who's recovering at an animal hospital near Santa Barbara, California.
So how did William, an Arabian show horse worth $150,000, end up two miles off shore?
Kendyl and her father, famed Hollywood producer Jon Peters, loaned William to a photography class being held on the beach. A wave crashed on shore and spooked William. He ran full speed into the ocean and started swimming and kept on going.
Kendyl said, "When I couldn't see him anymore in the water I thought I lost him forever."
Local sailor Paul Nouri saw what was happening. He jumped into his little skiff to try and save William.
Nouri said, "I thought I was just going to lasso him with that."
The sun was setting, sharks were circling, and William was losing strength. The nearby Carpentaria Fire Department dispatched half of the city's firefighters in a last ditch effort to save William.
Capt. Jay Erwin said, "It was finding a needle in a haystack."
They found the horse two miles out to sea. They carefully maneuvered a boat along side William and helped him swim back to shore.
Jon Peters said, "Over three hours in the ocean, swimming. I thought he was a dead horse."
Three hours in 55 degree water might have killed even the strongest swimmer, but not William the horse. Now, he's back on solid ground and no one is happier than the little girl who thought she lost him forever.
"You're surely an amazing boy, one in a million," said Kendyl.
