Quick-thinking truckers corral AWOL horse on busy Alberta highway

BALZAC, Alta. — Two semi-trailer truck drivers are being praised for playing a little blacktop rodeo when they used their big rigs to safely steer an AWOL horse off a busy highway north of Calgary and prevent the chance of a collision.

Airdrie RCMP say they got word around 4 a.m. Monday from an Edmonton woman who said her horse had escaped from a racetrack stable in the Balzac area.

The horse was later spotted galloping down the middle of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway near the community when the truck drivers worked together with their semis to corral it in a ditch, then control it with harness fashioned from a tow strap.

“I think the horse had kind of stopped in the headlights and started to move toward a ditch,” said Const. Dan Martin, an RCMP spokesman.

“One truck stopped and blocked the horse from getting back on the highway. The other driver stopped to help and, between the two of them, they were able to approach it and put the harness on. Police arrived shortly after.”

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Martin said it helped that the horse appeared to be calm and that one of the drivers seems to know his way around animals.

“One of the investigators explained that the driver who made the harness seemed to be quite familiar with livestock. I’m assuming he’s worked with horses or cattle before and kind of knew what to do.”

There were no reports of drivers having to swerve to miss the horse, and police did not have to set up roadblocks to reroute motorists during the roundup.

The Mounties contacted an Airdrie towing company that came to the scene with a livestock trailer to transport the horse back to Airdrie for pickup by its owner.

Martin said the woman was thankful the animal was not injured.

“She was quite upset that her horse was able to get out, but quite thankful for everybody — RCMP as well as the towing company and the trucks drivers — for working together to get it back.”

Police will not be laying charges.

Martin said the Airdrie detachment is no stranger to calls about livestock on the loose, but admitted this case was somewhat different.

“We definitely get a lot of cattle that get out and walk around highways here all the time, but (escaped) horses are quite rare for sure.”

Martin also said there’s no “black and white answer” when it comes to whether drivers should follow the lead of the two truckers if they come across escaped livestock on a busy road.

“If somebody was trying to move ducks and stopping traffic, well that could be quite dangerous,” he said. “Exercise caution and use common sense, and hopefully all ends well for everybody.”

The Canadian Press