Police, firefighters escort horses to Puyallup fairgrounds during medical emergency

A couple of horses that clip-clopped their way through downtown Puyallup were not an early edition of the Washington State Fair’s Rodeo Parade.

A family transporting three horses from Monroe to a farm in Yelm says one of them, a horse named Atlas, had some kind of accident in the trailer Saturday and couldn’t move.

They pulled into a parking lot on Pioneer Way and flagged down an officer.

Someone called the fairgrounds and asked if they could bring the two other horses there, while Atlas was taken to a vet.

Before long, Puyallup police officers, a Central Pierce Fire and Rescue crew and one of the owners could be seen walking Atlas’s two stablemates, named Boris and Kenney, to the fairgrounds on foot.

Some Puyallup residents may have thought the Washington State Fair Rodeo Parade was happening a few months early when these two horses, Boris and Kenney, were escorted by police and firefighters through town to reach the fairgrounds Saturday. (Photo: Puyallup Police Dept.)

Soon after, Boris and Kenney were enjoying a nice lunch courtesy of the Washington State Fair.

Police posted a description of the unusual incident on X.

Some of Puyallup’s finest, who helped with the rescue of a horse suffering a medical emergency and its two stablemates on Saturday. (Photo: Puyallup Police Dept.)

The post the officers reported “it was quite the sight to see and there were lots of smiles along the way.”

And it was a first for at least one of the officers on patrol:

One of the police officers involved in this today is brand new to our agency. We told him it was a ‘Puyallup thing.’  Thank you to the Washington State Fair for jumping into action to help today along with Central Pierce Fire & Rescue!  Kenney and Boris are enjoying lunch at the fair as we speak.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Atlas and the family hoping for a full and speedy recovery!”