Runaway horse charts a course down busy Wornall Road

Sometimes a girl just needs to get out and run.

But when that girl has four legs, wears horseshoes, sports a bridle and chooses a route along busy Wornall Road, people tend to notice.

Many certainly did Sunday afternoon when Kizzy took a two-mile jaunt through the heart of Waldo before she was corralled near 69th Street and Valley Road.

“It was a very interesting afternoon,” said Ann Goodrich, who lives on 69th Street where the horse ended up being caught.

Kizzy’s owner, Rodney Stanley, said the 5-year-old pulled away from him at a park near 82nd Street and Wornall where he had taken her for a child’s birthday party. When the horse saw an opening in a fence, she started running and got pretty far ahead of Stanley.

“She’s got four legs and I’ve only got two,” he said.

But he was able to track her because of the shoes she was wearing and the marks they made on the pavement. As he did that, Kizzy headed north before turning west on Gregory Boulevard and then north again. She was stopped by two young women who followed her in a vehicle from about 79th Street.

Don Presson, a neighbor of Goodrich who grew up on a farm, led the horse to a shady spot and tied her to a tree.

His wife, Jackie Presson, filled a bucket of water for the horse, and they hosed her down as they waited for animal control.

“She was the sweetest thing,” Jackie Presson said, even after Kizzy stepped on her foot. “It was my fault for being around a horse without shoes on.”

Presson praised the two young women who followed the horse and got her stopped. But they left before anyone got their names, she said.

Neighbors gathered and petted Kizzy and snapped pictures during the 45 minutes they waited until Stanley caught up with her.

Stanley said he was very grateful for the people who stopped Kizzy and cared for her. He said she is a gentle “kid-friendly” animal and he thought she was trying to get back home because she wanted to be with the rest the herd.

And, as horses will do, Kizzy left behind more than memories of what Jackie Presson said was a “nice little Sunday treat.”

“She fertilized our yard,” Goodrich said.