Top 5 at 5: Loose horse!!
Earlier today, a horse got loose and was found running through the streets of Columbus, Ohio, prompting traffic jams and other assorted chaos. Which inspired us to compile this Top 5 List of infamous “loose horse!” incidents.
1. An baby miniature horse gets loose and wreaks havok on the Minnesota State Fair.
2. During Will and Kate’s Royal Wedding Procession, a guard fell off his horse, which proceeded to bolt and run past their carriage.
3. In 2007, harness racing driver Tony Morgan towed a horse for half a race at Yonkers Raceway after the horse’s driver was thrown from the sulky during an accident.
4. Seven racegoers were taken to hospital after a loose horse jumped a boundary fence and galloped into a crowd of spectators during an Australian steeplechase.
5. French rider Nicolas Touzaint falls off Pepsy du Thil at the Haras de Jardy CIC3* on May 5th. The horse goes on to jump an SUV.
Go Riding.
- Send an email to wylie, the author of this post at wylie@horsenation.com
Greatest loose horse video of all time… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YcT74h5Mg
Scariest loose horse video I ever watched was one on U tube a year or so ago…A fine harness class-the horse got spooked and bolted out of control in a ring full of high level show horses. Ran round and round, driver finally fell, horse went faster and faster, busted the cart, crashed into several horses. Was finally ROPED by a boyfriend cowboy who was there with his girlfriend. (I think…I don’t really know why he was there) Amazing video and very dramatic.
Just looked up the video. “Country Pleasure Class Gone Horribly Wrong is the title. One horse gets loose, crashes into second horse, it crashes into third horse-very scary.
What about the one with the horse that got loose during the Tour de France and ran with the bicyclists for awhile?
When I volunteered at WEG, a connemara pulling a cart got loose and took off across the entire Village with the lady in it! It was running wild all over the KY Horse Park for about 20 minutes and was finally caught in the barn area. It was totally terrifying seeing it blaze across the park with the driver inside screaming–having no control as the bridle was hanging around the horse’s neck!
I saw a horse get loose at a 4-H show, the county qualifier to move on to Districts. It was a western pleasure horse, and it was high tailing towards the busy highway. My friend swung, literally, onto his barrel horse and took off after the loose horse. He galloped flat out for more than half a mile, caught the horse, and cantered back. All the while, the judge was trying to finish the barrel class he was entered in, and we had to yell to the judge that he was still coming! Despite all that running, he went in and qualified for the next round!
True story.
I was at a little equitation final and I needed to unload my horse alone so I could get his tail braided. While doing this, my horse managed to panic and fall out of the trailer. I was so horrified that I don’t even get a lead rope on him. He got to his feet and immediately took off across the show grounds. He hit the road and was gone. Did I mention he was an OTTB?
I’m running behind him with no prayer of catching up when a car pulls up next to me and the driver yells ‘get in!’. I don’t even think twice. I don’t think the car even came to a complete stop. I jump in this stranger’s car and he takes off after my horse. Fortunately we found him standing in a field no more than a mile from the show, still wearing his cooler and grazing. I caught him and brought him back, no harm done. It actually seemed to help, he was less antsy after that.
I didn’t get a chance to thank my random hero, but it makes me giggle every time I think of it. I always thought scenes like that were reserved for action flicks!
Ceasar, a Canadian sport horse owned by the saddle fitter Patty Merli escaped from his Conn stable one night, traipsed down a deer path that gave away under him. He was found at the bottom of this drop with no way out, so he had to air lifted out by helicopter! If I only knew how to forward the rescue photos!