It was an unusual pursuit for Chatham-Kent OPP after a horse fled the scene of a collision on Highway 401.

According to police, the driver of a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer lost control of the vehicle during poor weather conditions Tuesday around 9 p.m. on Highway 401 near Communication Road.

The trailer – containing two race horses – detached from the pickup, rolled over and came to a rest on its roof in the centre median of the highway. The pickup came to rest in the ditch.

One of the horses remained safely inside the trailer, but another stampeded west along the highway. While officers were making their way towards the horse, the driver of a tractor trailer drove alongside the animal in an attempt to contain it.

Eventually officers were able to stop the animal under a highway overpass. An OPP officer approached the horse on foot, and herded the animal off the 401. It was later transported to a nearby stable.

Both horses were examined by a veterinarian, and released with undetermined injuries.

The driver was uninjured.