Horse Loose On I-57, Jumps Back Over Ranch Fence

By Anna Deem in News on Oct 11, 2009 9:30PM

South suburban Markham drivers got quite a surprise early Sunday morning when a horse that had gotten loose onto I-57 from a nearby ranch caused some minor traffic problems, before jumping a fence and returning back to its ranch.

According to a statement Illinois State Police District District Chicago Trooper Hall gave the Chicago Sun Times, the dark-colored horse briefly got loose from a horse stable in Markham and got onto I-57, before jumping back over a fence and returning to its respective ranch. The horse got loose on northbound I-57 near 159th Street around 12:50 a.m., which prompted ISP to shut down I-57 in an attempt to trap the horse and return it to the ranch, Hall said. Before officers could catch the horse, it jumped back over the fence at 1:10 a.m.

The ranch in question was the Silver Stallion Ranch, 15125 S. Sacramento Ave., which operates as a family-run dude ranch that works to expose inner-city kids to rural based careers, according to the Silver Stallion Ranch website. The ranch is only one mile north of 159th Street, Hall said.