Horses Escape Rodeo, Get Chased Down By Cowboys & State Troopers

CBS Denver / YouTube

State troopers in Eagle, Colorado had their hands full trying to deal with all the horsepower on Interstate 70 after four runaway horses escaped from a rodeo.

“I wouldn’t say it was a typical day in Eagle County,” State Trooper Jake Best said, according to WKYT.

Video shows the horses running down the highway after dark with state troopers behind them trying to get them to slow down and stop. Officials say it happened after the Eagle County Rodeo ended.

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

The horses apparently took off running together after one of them was spooked due to coming in contact with an electric fence. They immediately ran out of the rodeo grounds and took off running down a fairgrounds road where they then ran out onto the interstate.

At that point, cowboys in the area and state troopers worked together to wrangle the runaway horses.

“We were lucky there was enough cowboys in town,” Jake said. “Otherwise, we would’ve had a much larger mess.” 

Jake used his radio to get other state troopers to block traffic on the east and west ends and, along with the Gypsum Fire Department, they did everything they could to get the horses to slow down. 

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

Jake’s strategy worked and the horses eventually slowed down after he got in front of them. Fortunately, none of the horses were hurt in the process and they were all properly wrangled and taken back to the rodeo.

Watch Footage Of The Runaway Horses Below