The horse was spotted cantering down Rowe Street and MacDougall Road after 6.30pm.

Attempts by motorists and passers-by to rein the horse in failed and minutes later she could be seen trotting down Allingham Street and across the busy Hattam Street intersection.

The runaway horse moved further down Allingham Street towards Kangaroo Flat, where a pair of men, including Leroy Halliwell, attempted to calm and capture the horse.

They were able to collar the evasive equine, who at one point was spotted walking and trotting along the train tracks.

But before authorities arrived the horse again trotted off with the men in keen pursuit.

The horse – later identified as Ruby –eventually bolted across Oak Street before she was again cornered by the two men in a vacant property on Panton Street.

Ruby was eventually reunited with her relieved owners.

Mr Halliwell said it was an interesting start to a Sunday evening.

“We were coming off the main road and we saw the horse basically running down the highway and jump onto the train tracks,” he said.

“We jumped out and tried to usher her off the tracks and onto the side of the rail lines.

“Now we’re sitting here waiting for a divvy van,” he added before Ruby bolted for a second time.

No one was more surprised that he was able to rein the horse in than Mr Halliwell, who boasted no previous horse experience. Though he did confess to having the odd bet on the Melbourne Cup.

“I like animals – I’m generally pretty calm with them,” he said.

“I thought all he might need was a little bit of calming down because she looked pretty scared and distressed.

“I have no idea where she came from. It’s not something you see every day.”

Several calls were made to police to alert them about the free-roaming horse.

One motorist spoken to by the Bendigo Advertiser said the horse had narrowly missed being hit by a car in Allingham Street.

A relieved Melanie Burke, whose daughter Matilda owns Ruby, revealed the horse had escaped from a property on Woodward Road, near PETstock.

 “We have her in a paddock there and the guy next to us has sheep and she just got out,” she said.

“She has never done it before.

“She’s looking pretty cruisy and doesn’t realise what she’s caused … but Matilda is very happy.

“She (Ruby) has got a long walk home now.”

Mrs Burke said she was first notified Ruby was missing via friends on Facebook, who had seen video of the horse on Allingham Street.

She was unaware that Ruby had narrowly escaped colliding with a couple of cars on the horse’s roughly 45 minutes on the loose, but praised the efforts of those who had helped capture the pet.

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