It Really Is Still the Wild, Wild West!

Horse on the loose in Scottsdale


My Fox Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -
A horse was on the loose in the northeast valley Thursday and it led Scottsdale Police on a wild chase for hours.
Even our own SkyFOX helicopter tried to help corral it.

Pilot Rick Crabbs followed the action as crews tried to corral the runaway horse near Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road.
By 11 a.m., the horse still hadn't been corralled.  Scottsdale Traffic Management Center Manager Bruce Dressel said, "Seems he wants to be free for awhile longer."
Scottsdale Police brought in expert lasso riders to try to rope in the horse.
They wanted to keep the animal in a desert area away from cars -- but that wasn't the case when it ran through some intersections and surprised some drivers.
Soleil Dolce from Arizona Equine Rescue told us the horse's hooves looked well-kept -- but the way it was behaving would indicate it was wild.
"So we've tried a number of different ways. We're just trying to herd it into a contained area so we know it's safe and off the road," said Dolce.
By late morning, the tired horse was cornered. It was tiring out. But it got its energy back by mid-afternoon, and wasn't stopping for anybody -- even a police officer on horseback.
The horse ran toward the freeway -- the last thing rescuers wanted -- and suddenly it was trotting along Scottsdale Road.
Just before 3 p.m., the horse left Scottsdale's jurisdiction. It fled to the northwest side of Scottsdale Road and the 101, heading north onto state land.
Police and wranglers gave up on the chase at that point because the horse was no longer considered to be a potential hazard to drivers.
"Very few people understand how hard it is to catch a wild mustang, and this is really what I think we were dealing with... we had some of the best ropers out there, we had a really terrific team of volunteers, and this guy wasn't going to get caught. He was smart," said Dolce.