Runaway horse spotted in Bukit Timah, captured 'minutes' after its escape

SINGAPORE — A black horse that was filmed trotting along Turf Club Road in Bukit Timah by a bemused motorist on Tuesday has since been captured by staff members from its stable, National Parks Board (NParks) confirmed.

Dr Chua Tze Hoong, group director at Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) at NParks, said on Wednesday (March 23) that as soon as AVS was alerted to the incident, they "were immediately in touch with Gallop Stable". 

The horse, named Minahcurrent, escaped from Gallop Stable, which is also located along the same street.

The authority was responding to queries from TODAY about a video uploaded on social media platform Reddit by user Joyocity on Tuesday, which showed a horse cantering along the road alongside drivers and pedestrians.

Gallop Stable said that the horse was captured "just minutes" after it escaped. Its spokesperson did not mention how the horse got out from the stable.

This is not the first time a steed was spotted on the loose in the area. 

In August last year, a grey-white horse was spotted along Vanda Link. near Turf Club Road, though it was unclear where the horse was housed. There were two horse-riding schools in the area: Bukit Timah Saddle Club and Gallop Stables. 

A similar incident took place in 2020, when a white horse was spotted galloping at a traffic junction along Eng Neo Avenue, also in the same area as Turf Club Road.

In that case, the horse belonged to an owner of a different stable, Paisano Polo Academy on Turf Club Road. 

Previously, Gallop Stable was found guilty and fined S$9,000 in 2017 for cruelty towards a 17-year-old horse named Sharpy. 

The stable, which manages around 150 horses and ponies, was found to have failed to provide adequate veterinary attention to the mare and caused it unnecessary suffering.  

Dr Chua said that investigations are ongoing and AVS is "working with Gallop Stable on measures to prevent recurrence".