After eventer Courtney Sendak saw her new trainee, a 5-year-old Oldenburg named Iron League, jump out of the round pen in which he was turned out, she glanced down to grab a lead rope. When she looked up again, the horse was gone.

It was a Monday morning, Feb. 9, less than 24 hours after the gray gelding had arrived at Sendak’s Defying Gravity Eventing in Upperco, Md.

“I’ve lost 10 years off my life worrying about this horse, especially because he just didn’t know where he was; he didn’t know where home was,” said Sendak, 26.

The next three days were a whirlwind of frantic searching and a huge community effort to locate the lost horse.

Iron League was loose in the heart of Maryland horse country. Most of the surrounding farms were 40 or more acres, and the expansive crop fields and wooded areas complete with streams and ravines made for an intimidating off-road search.

However, after news of Iron League’s disappearance began to spread like wildfire, community members came out in droves to help. They traversed the area on foot or horseback, and some brought all-terrain vehicles. Planes from The Dream Flight School, based at the nearby Carroll County Airport in Westminster, Md., flew overhead to aid in the search.

Sendak posted this photo of Iron League  safely back in his stall with the caption, “the most famous horse in Maryland.”

Sendak even rode the Thoroughbred gelding that Juliana Whittenburg, Iron League’s owner and breeder, had sent her as well, hoping to draw the gray gelding to the scent of his familiar Floridian stablemate.

“The community in general really came out and helped as much as they could. There are many people I’ve met along the way, not just in the equestrian community, but the local community as well,” said local dressage trainer Phoebe DeVoe-Moore. She, her husband and their staff shut down their nearby farm, Thornridge Manor, for three days to devote all of their time to the search.

DeVoe-Moore and Sendak used Google Maps to coordinate and assign search efforts. They also asked local FedEx and UPS drivers to keep an eye out for Iron League since they regularly drive on many of the local back roads.

“It’s been awful, and I’m just starting to take a deep breath,” said Sendak. “But it was really, really amazing how people just were so willing to drop everything and to give us their time and energy to look for this horse. It was really touching how kind people are; it really restores your faith in humanity when you’re hearing all these awful stories.”

What started as a single post on Sendak’s Facebook page about Iron League’s disappearance turned into a local social media movement within the first 24 hours that he was missing.

Searchers posted updates and sightings on Facebook, first on pages like the Maryland Farmer’s Exchange and then on NetPosse.com and the Iron League Search Group that Sendak and her supporters created.

Whittenburg helped from her Flying Lion Farm in Zephyrhills, Fla., by answering calls and keeping their Facebook group updated. Before long, Facebook posts, fliers and press releases were circulating the Internet. Local radio and television stations broadcast the story; The Baltimore Sun even posted a brief article about Iron League.

“It was absolutely phenomenal how horse people and non-horse people all became involved in finding this horse,” said Sendak, who came home to 76 text messages and more than 300 Facebook messages on Tuesday evening. “Facebook was huge! I can’t even tell you how many people were sharing his flier and the news and information about him to kind of raise awareness and get everyone involved.”

DeVoe-Moore, Sendak’s dressage instructor and a close friend of Whittenburg’s, posted a reward for Iron League on Facebook the night before he was found.

“I would not be quick to offer a reward for finding a lost horse,” she said. “The way I handled it was that, after 48 hours, the owner and I together offered a reward for any information leading to the recovery of an unlawfully-contained horse. Because unfortunately, some horses that get loose end up missing because they’ve been taken.”

Iron League on his way back home safe and sound.

Dale Bolt, a local UPS driver, had read about Iron League in the newspaper and decided to spend a few hours before work looking for him. Lo and behold, he saw the horse grazing on the side of the road about two miles from Sendak’s farm on Feb. 11. He contacted Sendak, who told him not to let the horse out of his sight until she arrived.

She found Iron League in great shape. “There wasn’t even a speck of dirt on him! His blanket was totally intact; he looked like he just had a bath,” she said. “He was calm and just seemed like he’s had a grand little adventure.”

“I’m sure Iron League can’t thank people enough; I couldn’t thank all these people enough for everything they did for him with an absolutely amazing outpouring of help,” said a relieved Whittenburg. “He’s my baby. I don’t have real children, I have the horses that I breed, and he is one of the creams of all my crops. He’s a pretty special horse.”

Now that Iron League (Ironman—Ivy League, Roemer) has been found, the plan is to keep the Facebook group alive as a network of resources for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation someday.

“This group got a huge response,” said Sendak. “Through this, I’ve learned so much about how to go about handling a horse emergency like this: who to call, what are the precautions, what do to right away.”

And Iron League? Sendak says he’ll finally start his event training, the reason he came to Sendak in the first place. He’s already proved he can jump and handle himself across country.

“Now this guy gets to start living up to all the hype he created!” said Sendak. “He’s a very special horse, and he definitely made his presence known in Maryland. Now I’m just excited to produce him.”