It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child, but on Friday night, Oxford showed it takes a township to save a horse.

Thanks to the efforts of the Oxford Fire Department, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and residents along N. Coats and Hummer Lake roads, Eli Whitney, a 27-year-old Appaloosa gelding, was rescued from the icy waters of a large drainage ditch where he was stuck for hours.

On Sunday evening, Randy Davisson, who has owned Eli since March 2000, reported his four-legged friend was “doing fine” and his appetite was healthy as ever.

“He’s eating like a horse,” said Davisson, which is a good sign because “if a horse stops eating, you’ve got big problems.”

Eli isn’t just any horse. He’s a bit of a celebrity.

In 2006, he was featured in the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” book series because Davisson, who will turn 82 on March 18, rode him in all 50 states and all 10 of Canada’s provinces between July 2000 and April 2005.

Eli achieved notoriety again in 2008 when he was one of three horses who spent 21 consecutive days pulling an Amish wagon across Michigan from Oscoda to Empire and back again, a 547-mile journey.

Friday night was Eli’s third time in the spotlight and it was almost his last. But, what could have been a story that ended in tragedy turned into a tale of triumph as a compassionate community rallied to help him.

It all started around 6:30 p.m. when Davisson’s wife of 62 years, Mary Ellen, went outside to do some chores. Davisson had to remain in the house due to a health issue.

“Eli usually comes up to the barn to get fed, but he didn’t come up (Friday night),” said Cindy Bozied, the couple’s daughter and next door neighbor on N. Coats Rd.

Bozied was called and asked to locate Eli. She grabbed her binoculars, went outside, took a look around and spotted him.

“He was just standing there in the ditch,” Bozied said. “I’m not sure how he got in the ditch. He was just standing there and he was fine.”

The ditch in which Eli was found is the Brandon-Oxford Drain, which is under the jurisdiction of Oakland County.

A busted fence provided a clue as to what may have happened. Bozied speculated Eli was leaning against a post when it broke, causing him to lose his balance and slide down into the ditch.

Davisson agreed.

“He’ll back up to a post and use that to scratch his butt or back, just like we do with a door,” he said. “He broke through the fence somehow. I’m guessing that’s probably what happened.”

With a halter and rope in hand, Bozied and her husband, Chris, went to retrieve Eli.

“We started leading him down to the end of the (ditch) because we couldn’t climb the (steep side) that he had went down,” Bozied said.

As the three of them were walking through the ditch, the ice beneath their feet broke and they all ended up in the water.

Bozied and her husband found themselves up to their knees in water, while Eli was in a much more perilous situation.

The horse was stuck. He was laying on his side with one of his legs trapped under the ice, according to Bozied.

“I knew it was bad,” she said.

She called her mother and told her, “We need help now, fast.”

A 9-1-1 call brought firefighters and sheriff’s deputies to the scene. According to the Oxford Fire Department’s Facebook post describing the situation, deputies and firefighters “entered the frozen water with tow straps” and were able to free Eli from the ice, however, they could not get him to his feet.

“Desperation was setting in and then something great started to happen, (the) Oxford Community responded,” the post read.

Neighbors rushed to the horse’s aid.

Folks brought blankets to warm Eli and a teenage girl named Paige kept talking to him in an effort to calm the cold and agitated beast. The fire department’s post praised Paige as the “horse whisperer” who provided Eli with “emotional support.”

Bozied said at one point, she counted and there were at least 25 people there doing whatever they could to help Eli.

Two of the neighbors who raced to the scene were Dr. Judy Duncan and her husband Ed Stull, founders of the Pan Equus Animal Sanctuary (PEAS) on Hummer Lake Rd. Duncan is a retired veterinarian who treated small animals for 21 years.

Duncan said the situation did not appear  hopeful when she arrived.

“It looked pretty bleak, to be honest with you,” she said. “The horse was just shaking uncontrollably. (He) was very hypothermic. (He) had almost a half-glazed look (in his) eyes as if (he) was kind of calling it quits.”

The turning point came when Bozied went to N. Coats Rd. neighbor Don Ballagh’s house and asked him to bring some equipment to help. He owns an excavation and demolition company.

“He got dressed and came out right away. He was out there with (a skid steer) in no time,” Bozied said.

Ballagh’s equipment, combined with tow straps and all of the muscle power of people working together to guide and push the horse, dragged Eli out of the ditch.

Duncan described the scene – “There were people on the horse’s head, people on the horse’s legs. It wasn’t like (the ground was) a flat surface. There were stumps, twigs, little trees and everything else. This horse was being dragged over all sorts of things. The people on the head had taken their own coats off and wrapped (them around his) head, so (his) eyes were protected.”

Once out of the ditch, Eli was “too weak” to stand without assistance, according to Duncan. Ballagh’s skid steer and the tow straps were once again employed to help bring Eli to his feet.

“Without the use of equipment, that horse would not have, on its own, been able to get up,” Duncan noted.

As soon as someone was able to get one of Eli’s rear legs “situated in the right position,” Duncan said “all of the sudden, it was like something clicked in (his) brain” and the horse stood up.

“It was just amazing,” she said. “Then, he just started walking. It was incredible, absolutely incredible.”

Eli was led back to the barn where he ate and drank while folks worked to warm and dry his large body.

“I was really surprised to see him walking,” Davisson said.

“That horse is a fighter,” Duncan said.

Davisson is grateful to everyone who helped rescue his beloved companion.

“What a wonderful job everybody did. Thanks doesn’t seem like enough,” he said. “Bless their hearts.”

He’s particularly appreciative of Ballagh’s efforts. “Don really knew what to do and did a great job,” Davisson said. “Don Ballagh really came through.”

Duncan said it was “just a great group of people” who rallied to rescue Eli.

“Not once did I hear anybody say anything negative” or express a desire to call it quits, she said. “This was just a great story, great people. When you get a group of people (together), there’s always that one negative person. That person wasn’t there (Friday night). Everybody pitched in. Everyone did their part. No one left. Everyone stayed with it right to the end and luckily, it turned out great. It makes you feel good that you live in such a great community.”

Given the situation and his advanced age, Duncan believes Eli is “very lucky” to be alive.

“Probably within another couple hours or so of (him) just laying down in there, (he) would have been done,” she said.