Teenager caught on camera stopping runaway horse on busy Maryland road

close

Video

Teen chases down runaway horse on Maryland highway

Raw video: 14-year-old girl on horseback rides to stop escaped horse running down busy highway.

A teenager was caught on camera gallantly rescuing a runaway horse along a busy Maryland road Sunday - and the video immediately went viral.

Caroline Shoults was at a riding competition at De Novo Farms in Anne Arundel County when one of the horses broke free from a barn and took off.

Shoults did not hesitate and took off after the horse on horseback while other riders got in a car to help shield the two from other cars, FOX 5 DC reported.

“A brave 16-year-old getting ready to compete stopped to help try to catch her,” Jeannette Newland, a spectator, wrote in a Facebook post sharing a video taken by Julia Young, 13.

In the video, the runaway horse named Ice can be seen galloping on the road’s shoulder as Shoults is spotted trying to catch up.

Young is heard off camera shouting at the fellow teen, telling her to push the runaway horse towards the grass.

“The only thing that kept me sane was just talking to my horse. I can’t quite say I was scared,” Shoults told FOX 5 DC via Skype. “I think I was just so focused on a positive outcome I didn’t have time to be scared, especially in a situation like that and then adrenaline definitely masked a lot of emotions as well.”

After about three miles, Ice eventually tired out and was stopped without harm.

“It was pretty intense with the traffic and [it] could have turned bad in so many ways, but she kept her cool and helped keep the horse safe until she tired herself out,” Newland told the station. “We kept the traffic from trying to pass her and spooking the horses.”

Shoults, who was riding Tinkerbell, went on to win third place after the whole ordeal.