A three-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 160 Saturday left a truck, trailer and two horses precariously balanced on the edge of a steep embankment.

After a six-hour rescue that required three tow trucks, the quarter horses, Zoe and Pistol, stepped safely from the trailer, said Chief Bruce Evans with the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.

“It’s really a miracle they didn’t go over the side,” he said.

The owner of the horses, Douglas Lind, was on his way to see friends and was about eight miles east of Bayfield when the driver of a Hummer H2, which was hauling a trailer, crossed the center line and hit the right front end of Lind’s pickup truck and scraped down the length of his truck and trailer, he said. No one was seriously injured.

“All of sudden, all I could see were headlights and clearance lights,” Lind said.

The Hummer then struck a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and the van rolled down the embankment, Lind said.

Lind’s truck and trailer jack-knifed, and the truck came to a stop facing downhill at an angle.

“When it happened, I figured I was going all the way to the bottom,” he said.

The truck and trailer came slightly uncoupled, but the weight of the trailer held the truck back.

However, the trailer’s back end was too far off the ground to back the horses out of the trailer. They could easily have broken a leg, he said.

Two tow trucks stabilized the truck and trailer while a third lifted the neck of the trailer to make it level, Evans said.

“The horses stepped right out,” he said.

Some motorists faced a lengthy wait after the 10 p.m. crash. The highway was not fully cleared until about 5 a.m., and it was closed for several hours during that time, he said.

First responders had to wait for additional tow trucks to arrive, Evans said.

Three patients were taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center after the crash but have been released.

The driver of the Hummer, Wayne Smith, 70, could face a charge of careless driving causing bodily injury, said Trooper Nate Reid with the Colorado State Patrol.

Smith suffered minor to moderate injuries, and his wife, a passenger, had complaints of injuries, he said.

The driver of the van, Victor Portillo, 47, of El Paso Texas, suffered moderate injuries, Reid said.

Lind refused care after the crash. He said he was left homeless after his truck and trailer were totaled in the crash. But he is thankful they didn’t roll two or three times.

Lind is staying with friends, and on Tuesday he was getting Zoe and Pistol ready for a team roping competition in Bayfield.

He is a retired UPS driver from Montana. Now, he travels to amateur roping competitions. After the crash, he was impressed by the help he received from the first responders. One person even hauled his hay to his friend’s house.

“Everybody involved was just super,” he said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com