3 Horses Killed on Freeway After Escaping From Stable

Eleven horses escaped from a boarding stable early Friday and wandered onto the Riverside Freeway, where three were killed by vehicles in the pre-dawn darkness. A fourth suffered broken legs and was destroyed.

The surviving horses were herded back to Coal Canyon Stables, where they had escaped from fenced pastures and ventured onto the freeway about 1:45 a.m.

“I’ve been working here 10 years and this is the worst incident I’ve had to handle,” said Sgt. Brian Frick of the Orange County Animal Control Department. “It was total chaos. There were horses and wrecked cars everywhere.”

No motorists were injured, but one vehicle had its roof torn off and the windshield of another was smashed in, the California Highway Patrol said.

One driver stopped to see what he could do for an injured horse, and the animal was suffering so much the man decided to use a knife to kill it, Frick said.

“That one horse that suffered the broken leg was still trying to get up. He had a lot of heart,” Frick said. “I tell you, I’ve got horses myself and it hurt me pretty bad to see those animals dead and dying.”

Highway Patrol officers and Caltrans workers shut the freeway between Weir Canyon and Coal Canyon roads for three hours. Workers then herded the surviving animals, including one pony, onto the center median and removed the bodies of the others.

“By the time we got the call and caught up with (the horses), they were about four miles east of the stables,” Frick said.

The owner of the stables, Slim Hart, was cited by Animal Control officials on seven counts of letting livestock run loose on public property, one count for each of the animals that survived, Animal Control Sgt. Marie Hulett-Curtner said.

Hart, who was not available for comment Friday, will have to appear before an Orange County Municipal Court judge and could face a fine if he is found negligent, Hulett-Curtner said. But she said it is unclear how much such a fine could be because the citation is rare.

The stable owner also could be liable to the motorists involved and Caltrans for the damages to the cars, the towing, the cleanup of the roadway and the disposal of the carcasses, authorities said.

Officials said it was not clear how the animals got away from the ranch, where horses carry a heart-shape brand.

“These horses are usually older horses,” Hulett-Curtner said. “He keeps them to provide trail horses, then after a few years they’re euthanized because they’re already old.”

Frick said Friday was not the first time horses from Coal Canyon Stables have escaped and wandered onto the freeway, but stable hands always managed in the past to retrieve them without trouble.

There were no traces of trouble at the stable Friday afternoon. About 50 horses grazed in their pens, and none of the fences or gates appeared to be broken.