Pony Dressed As Unicorn Flees Photoshoot, No One Can Blame Her
A pony dressed as a unicorn led highway patrol on a 4-hour chase through a California town
What law enforcement originally thought was someone on drugs hallucinating a ‘unicorn’ running through the streets turned out to be a real-life scenario. Residents of one California community were treated to a magical encounter when a local pony went for a four-hour field trip.
“Initially he thought it might be somebody out there on drugs, seeing things,” California Highway Patrol spokesman Josh McConnell told the Los Angeles Times.
Nope. No drugs. Just an adorable snow-white Shetland pony, named Juliet, who escaped from her owner and led troopers on a four-hour chase through Madera Ranchos. Juliet was dressed in her finest unicorn accessories, which includes a prosthetic horn and a light pink bridle, for a photo shoot.
That’s right. A photo shoot. You see, Juliet is a working pony. Sandra Boos, a photographer from Fresno, got the animal for her 5-year-old daughter Tatum Boos about a year ago. But since children love unicorns, Boos often uses Juliet in pictures with kids to make their dreams come true. Which is totally adorable.
Evidently, Juliet wasn’t in the mood for creating yet another mystical vignette this past Wednesday and ditched the artistic team for a jaunt through orchards that spanned about five miles, Buzzfeed reported. “I’m not your enchanted unicorn today,” Juliet likely thought while she hid in the field of mostly white making it nearly impossible for troopers and her family to find her.
“She turned out to be stealthier than we imagined,” Boos said. As with all escaped animal stories, like the famous llamas who stole the national spotlight during their jaunt through Phoenix, Arizona last February, the internet was there as the hilarity unfolded this week.
Meanwhile, Juliet’s best friend Tatum was heartbroken and worried about her pony. “I was afraid and then we had to catch her in the dark,” Tatum told WISH TV. “I love my pony.” The pony show eventually came to an end thanks to the work of community members, her concerned family and friends, and a lot of effort from state troopers. Captivated citizens stopped traffic to help, and law enforcement brought out their helicopter and utilized infrared heat to locate the 20-year-old pony.
In the end, it was Juliet’s horse friend “Shady” who helped end her evening of freedom. Shady’s owner, Renee Pardy, worked with another community resident to guide Juliet into a closed area so her family could safely get to her.
No one was hurt and the Boos family was not cited by troopers, although they were given a warning not to let it happen again since the 600-pound pony could have caused a lot of damage. While the wild ride did have a fairy tale ending, Juliet wasn’t left off the hook entirely. “She gotted a time out because she was being a bad pony,” Tatum said.
