Horse flees child's party in Missouri

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WALDO, Mo., July 2 (UPI) -- The owner of a horse that escaped from a Missouri child's birthday party said he caught up to her after about 45 minutes by following her hoofmarks on the road.

Rodney Stanley said he took Kizzy, a "kid-friendly" 5-year-old horse, to a child's birthday party at a park in Waldo and the animal managed to get away from him, darting through an opening in a fence, The Kansas City Star reported Monday.

Stanley said he lost sight of Kizzy but was able to follow her from the marks her horseshoes left on the road.

Don and Jackie Presson, who live near where the horse was found, about two miles from the park, said the horse was caught by two young women who followed her in a vehicle and Don Presson tied her to a tree in a shady spot to wait for animal control officers.

Stanley arrived about 45 minutes after the escape and theorized Kizzy was trying to get home to the rest of her herd.

"She was the sweetest thing," Jackie Presson said, adding she wasn't mad at the animal for stepping on her foot. "It was my fault for being around a horse without shoes on."