MONROE COUNTY, Mich. – Traffic was backed up on Interstate 75 in Monroe County Tuesday afternoon after a horse got loose and galloped on the freeway.
“I looked and I realized there was a horse running down the entrance ramp,” said Travis Larkin.
Larkin had just seen an alert that the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was looking for a missing horse, but he was stunned to see the thoroughbred merging onto the road. He and a semi quickly helped out by blocking traffic.
“Really concerned that someone came blowing by me, and some people just don’t care about when the police are on the road with the lights on. The horse could’ve easily jogged across the other side of the interstate and get hit by a car, or truck, and it would’ve ended very badly,” he said.
There were sheriff’s deputies, a woman with a bucket (assumed to have oats) and even cars trying to give chase.
“Several times we had it cornered and then it would double back ... it was terrified especially with the traffic and sirens,” Larkin said.
At that point when Larkin was considering trying to lasso the horse, more people came to help out.
“A small white car ... kind of corralled the horse against the center median, and then the sheriff came up behind him ... They got him under control and someone had a rope,” Larkin said. “It was an amusing and lighthearted situation. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was stunning and hilarious. Who expected to see a horse running down the interstate?”
It is unclear how the horse got out but it was returned safely to its farm.
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