A truck lost control on I-35 this past Sunday, April 7 leaving a trailer full of horses laying across the left lane of the interstate. Firefighters and first responders were called to the odd scene on I-35 North around 3:45 am, and amazingly all three horses reportedly survived the accident.
“A couple of team ropers were headed back home from a rodeo in Eagle Pass. They were headed toward Edinburg when they lost control of the vehicle and swerved off the road near the Love’s Station in Natalia,” said Assistant Fire Chief Derrick Caddell who responded for Natalia VFD.
“The truck ended up in the median, where we believe they might have hit a big rut. Thankfully, the trailer came off of the hitch during the accident so the truck stayed upright, but the trailer was laying on its side with three roping horses in it. By the time we arrived, the people had gotten two of the horses out, but the third one was kind of stiff and still inside the trailer. We put a rope on it and were able to pull it out, but it took a lot of manpower. Besides a few bumps and scratches it looked like it was going to be okay too. The trailer was a three horse slant with dividers so each horse had its own space with padded sides, so I think that really helped.”
“The people were really happy,” Caddell added. “You could tell they really loved those horses, and it sounded like they had just won first place at the rodeo where they had been.”
The interstate was shut down for about 2 1/2-3 hours while first responders cleared the scene.
Horse trailer turns over on I-35
