A loose cow in Oklahoma City.

Saddling up a horse and riding into the city isn’t just for Big & Rich anymore. A couple of contractors for the Oklahoma National Stockyards pinback crew put their lassoing skills to use in unconventional fashion Monday morning in Oklahoma City. Blake Igert received a call that cows had gotten loose on Interstate 40, and he and colleague Jimmy Dishman took their horses out to chase and eventually catch them, with Oklahoma City firefighters blocking off traffic to help them. Here’s helicopter video of their efforts to lasso one particular cow from KOCO 5 (the Oklahoma City ABC affiliate), complete with excited play-by-play from chopper pilot Chase Rutledge:

And here’s more from KOCO’s Kilee Thomas’ writeup of the incident:

“Got the phone call that there were some cows out, heading down I-40,” said Blake Igert, a contractor for Oklahoma National Stockyards pinback crew.

He was about to start a long day of sales when Igert saddled up and took off down the interstate on horseback.

“It was a little more intense this time. We were right in the middle of traffic. The cows were heading right into the interstate …You got to be patient and wait for a good opportunity.”

He wrangled the cow down safely and Igert said it was an experience he will never forget.

“It’s not completely new, but you also don’t see it every day,” Igert said.

The “It’s not completely new” fits nicely with the anchor’s “That’s so Oklahoma” to end the top clip.  And this was a notable victory for cowboys in the state of Oklahoma, proving the aptness of that mascot. It’s just unfortunate this wasn’t a longhorn cow (yes, female longhorns have horns too), or this could have been a great Big 12 story.

[UPI, KOCO]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.