TINLEY PARK, IL — If you saw it, you probably did a double take.
On Monday, four large horses were spotted being led up Oak Park Avenue. No parade, no special occasion. Just four horses clip-clopping up the street in Tinley Park’s downtown.
The scene was the calm following the chaos moments earlier, when a horse trailer broke down on I-80 en route home to Idaho. Panicked, the owners scrambled to find some place that could get their rig driveable—and keep their horses safe.
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Sub-Trailer Hitch owner Brian Becker got the call and knew they were coming, but was shocked when he saw the extent of the damage.
“It was the trailer starting to destroy itself,” Becker told Patch Tuesday. One wheel had fallen off, he said, and the trailer was close to losing another. The trailer had just been serviced recently by a business in another state, and by appearances, that business hadn’t done the job properly.
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The owners pulled over in the parking lot of Burger King off 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue, and fearing the trailer would only continue to crumble, they unloaded the horses and walked them to Sub-Trailer Hitch, 17501 Oak Park Ave.
The safest thing they could have done at that moment was to take the weight off the trailer before things got worse, Becker said.
“They limped it over here,” Becker said.
Becker made some phone calls to rush new wheels to the shop. The draft horses relaxed as they waited for the work to be complete, even grazing on grass behind the shop, Becker said. They were safe, and their ride was getting the necessary repairs to make sure they’d stay that way.
The horses seemed unfazed—they had grass and a sunny day, maybe not unlike being in a pasture on a farm. Their human counterparts, on the other hand, seemed pretty uneasy, Becker said.
“They were extremely rattled,” Becker said. “I don’t think they’ve ever had anything break down before. … It was pretty catastrophic. It was pretty bad.
“… It literally fell apart as they were driving to go home.”
Becker said they were able to make the repairs within two hours.
“We made some new friends both two-legged and four-legged,” Sub-Trailer wrote on their social media.
“Definitely one of the unique stories for Sub,” another told Patch.
Becker was just glad the horses were pulled before the worst case scenario could have happened, and they were happy to host their hoofed friends while they put their human ones at ease.
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“It was awesome,” Becker said.
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