A Couple Of Horses Were Running Around The 401 This Morning & OPP Had To Escort Them Off
The highway is probably not the best spot for some horsin' around.🐎
Ontario Provincial Police escorting the horses off the 401.
These two horses really did "stirrup" some trouble this morning on the 401 (so, maybe they're actually named Bonnie and Clydesdale).
On Friday, June 17, at around 5:45 a.m., Ontario Provincial Police officers with the Quinte West detachment shared in a press release that they were called down to Highway 401 westbound near Glen Miller Road after getting reports that a couple of horses were galloping across the highway and drivers had to swerve by them to avoid hitting the animals.
\u201cDay shift officers of the #QuinteOPP had an interesting start to their shift this morning after receiving reports of horses loose on the #401hwy in #QuinteWest. The horses were corralled to the wb Enroute and reunited with their owners. ^dl\u201d— OPP East Region (@OPP East Region) 1655475545
In order to corral the horses off the highway, a transport truck driver had helped police lasso them in by cutting the horses off on the road. That's when officers were able to grab hold of the horses by using "rescue rope" from their vehicles, according to the press release.
Police escorted the horses down to the 401 westbound ONroute, where they waited for a few hours up until 8:45 a.m. when their owner could get there to pick them up.
The horses didn't suffer any injuries from their highway escapades, according to provincial police, and the highway was closed off for a short period of time.
If drivers should ever find themselves going down a highway with an animal in the middle of the road, the Wildlife Collision Prevention Program recommends slowing down and preparing for any kind of unexpected behaviour. They also recommend looking at where the animal is going, but if a crash is inevitable, try to go for the spot where the animal is coming from and not where it's heading to.
Narcity reached out to the Quinte West Detachment for additional comment but didn't hear back in time before this article was published.