HAMPTON
It remains a mystery exactly how three horses owned by Hampton University got out of their stable to shut down the morning rush on Interstate 64 last month.
But the school has made changes to secure the horses.
No gates or chains at the stable off I-64 and the university campus were broken, and it appears that someone intentionally let the horses out on Feb 26. University police are investigating.
Security checks at the stable the night before found nothing unusual, said Susie Mirick, the riding instructor at Hampton University.
“We have chains on all the fences and the gates, so we do not know what happened,” she said. “There were no broken fences, there were no broken chains.
“The assumption is that someone came onto the property … and let the horses out.”
All eight horses got out, and three of them wandered down I-64 toward the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Motorists stopped for the horses about 5:45 a.m., and the highway was backed up for five miles as Virginia State Police walked the horses to a transportation building.
The horses live at the school’s Strawberry Banks stable, along the water and within walking distance to campus. The stable is within a quarter mile to an I-64 entrance ramp, but is not visible from the highway.
The school is beginning a process to build a larger barn for the equestrian program, Mirick said. Tighter security will be part of the plan. One option is a key-card for a gate that would allow only Hampton students and faculty to get to the stable.
Until then, there are new padlocks on the gates.
The students didn’t ride on Feb. 26 because the horses were spooked and agitated. They spent their class calming them and letting them play.
“They were very nervous and scared,” said Marie Ellis, a senior from Chicago who is in the riding class at Hampton. “We didn’t ride that day. We just wanted to calm them down and make sure they were OK.”
Hampton has offered its western equestrian course since 2002.
Patrick Wilson, (757 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
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To Budnbarb57
There are those of us who happen to be horse owners who find this article interesting. If you are not a horse owner, or horse lover then why did you even bother to read this article and then gripe because you didn't think it newsworthy? Perhaps, you should search for news of a murder or two. Would that be more to your lliking?
Horses
“We have chains on all the fences and the gates, so we do not know what happened,” she said. “There were no broken fences, there were no broken chains. “The assumption is that someone came onto the property … and let the horses out.”
What a brilliant deduction..Is this all the news Pilotonline can dig up?