SUV Totaled After Hitting Runaway Pony in Port Lavaca

NEED TO KNOW

Drivers in Port Lavaca spotted a pony roaming on a rural highway.
Police received multiple calls about the loose animal.
A driver later collided with the same pony, totaling her vehicle.

A random pony was spotted dangerously roaming along a road in Port Lavaca this week. One driver slowed down to record the animal and posted the footage to a local Facebook group with the caption, “Someone’s small pony is on the highway.”

Photo Courtesy: Barbara Cooke

Within minutes, locals flooded the comments section, expressing worry and confusion.

“He looks lost and afraid,” one user wrote.

Others urged the driver to call the Sheriff’s Office to report the roaming pony before someone got hurt. But less than an hour later, that exact warning came true.

The Inevitable Crash.

As reports continued to pour in, Barbara Cooke and her children were heading home from a local football game. Her husband was driving just two minutes ahead of her in a separate truck when he spotted the pony on the road.

He immediately grabbed his phone to warn her, but before she could answer, Cooke’s SUV collided with the animal. The moment of impact triggered her vehicle’s emergency response system, which automatically sent text alerts to her family and called 911.

Within minutes, first responders arrived on the scene.

Photos from the crash show the front of Cooke’s Ford Expedition completely crushed.

Photo Courtesy: Barbara Cooke

Cooke and her kids went to the ER as a precaution, where they were treated and released without serious injuries. Sadly, the pony did not survive the crash.