CO horses on the loose spark police chase; trooper describes Wild West-like scene: video

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Friday, July 30, 2021
Video: Cowboy comes to rescue after CO horses get loose on highway
"We were lucky there was enough cowboys in town. Otherwise we would've had a much larger mess," the trooper said.

EAGLE, Colo. -- A spooked horse led to a mini stampede in a very risky place -- an interstate at night.

Luckily, local law enforcement had some help on horseback, KCNC reported.

State patrol officers are used to seeing horsepower on display, but a literal horse pursuit was caught on camera in Colorado.

All it took was one horse getting spooked by an electric fence after a rodeo.

"And they all took off running down a fairgrounds road," Trooper Jake Best said.

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Then they headed to the interstate, where Best was in "trot" pursuit.

And he wasn't alone. While other troopers were controlling traffic, Best got some unexpected buckaroo backup.

"We even saw a cowboy riding down the interstate, trying to catch up to them, to rope them and stop that lead horse," the trooper said. "Uh, so my goal was to try and get in front of them and slow them down."

It worked. The horses were eventually steered safely into a field, where community members assisted with the round-up.

"We were lucky there was enough cowboys in town. Otherwise we would've had a much larger mess," Best said.

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