A Farmington, N.M. man who was horseback-riding north of Rico on Sunday had to be flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction after he sustained a heart attack along the trail.

Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin said Monday that Dale Brown of Farmington was riding with his two daughters in the Twin Creeks area of the San Juan National Forest when he suffered the attack.

Martin said that members of the Rico and Dolores Fire and Rescue teams, the Dolores County Sheriff’s Office and the San Miguel County Search and Rescue team responded to the incident.

Brown and his daughters were riding along a trail up near Lizard Head Pass when Brown had the heart attack, said Martin.

"One of his daughters came out to get help and the other daughter stayed in with her father until rescuers got back there," Martin said. The women did an excellent job of initiating the rescue effort, he added.

Martin did not know the names of the two women.

The sheriff said that once rescuers located Brown in the backcountry they made sure he was stable before moving him to a location where the helicopter could land. "From there they lifted him up," he said.

They didn’t make it all the way out to the road before the St. Mary’s helicopter picked him up and flew him to Grand Junction, Martin said.

Martin said he was unsure of Brown’s exact age but estimated that he is in his 50s.