BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Animal rescue crews in Belmont County expected to find a horse still stranded on a cliff above Route 7 just north of Powahtan Point Saturday morning, but arrived on the scene to find the horse gone.

It had been stranded since Thursday afternoon. Rescuers said it is likely fed and watered, but otherwise wild. They said they believe it fell off the hilltop onto a cliff.

Rescuers were on scene for hours Friday, but decided to pack up operations as it got dark.

"We tried to dig footholds in small amounts. Our plan for this morning would probably have been to get excavation in and finish digging," said Brooke Vrany of the Days End Farm Horse Rescue.

The excavation plan wasn’t necessary, as rescuers said they believe the horse was able to climb to safety overnight.

"It appears the horse was able to either use the path that we created yesterday to get off the mountain or created a new one."

A plane flew above the hillside, allowing rescuers to find out if the horse had fallen onto another tier of the steephill.

Saturday afternoon, rescuers confirmed through the horse's markings, it was safely back up on the hilltop, where animal officials say it lives with a group of other horses.

While the horse is safe, rescuers said they're going to follow up on their efforts to find out exactly how the horse got to safety..

"We do believe and we're going to do some hoof tracking that the horse went up where we had repelled down yesterday and had been digging."

Emergency management officials said it will now be up to the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department and the Humane Society of the United States to determine whether any further action will be taken with the horses on the hilltop or the property owner.

NEWS9 is learning that the owner of the horse could be facing charges according to the Belmont County Sheriff's Office.

While that is to be decided, the Sheriff's Office is looking to corral the horses so they can be in a safe animal.

Once that is completed, Sheriff's Office is looking into the possibility of putting them all up for adoption.