Horse Illustrated Magazine

If you’re going to try to steal a bike, look around and make sure there aren’t any cowboys nearby, at least not if they have their rope and horse with them.

Robert Borba is a working rancher. He grew up competing in rodeos, according to the Medford Mail Tribune, but has now settled down with his family on a ranch in Eagle Point, Oregon. His ranch work gave him the skills to be a hero on Friday morning when he witnessed a crime in progress at the local Walmart.

Borba was loading his purchases into his truck when he heard a woman yelling that her bicycle was being stolen. He saw the thief starting to pedal away.

“I wasn’t going to catch him on foot,” said Borba. “I just don’t run very fast.”

Every hero needs a sidekick. Enter Long John, Borba’s handsome horse who happened to be right there in the trailer. The duo was on its way to help with a cattle branding in California that afternoon.

Off they went after the alleged thief, who ditched the bike once he realized he was being chased by a horse, and tried to flee on foot. Borba got close enough to throw his rope, lassoing the man around his legs, causing him to fall, and kept the rope taut to prevent him from breaking free. The rancher called 911 and waited for the police to arrive.

“We’ve never had anyone lassoed and held until we got there,” Sgt. Darin May told the Mail Tribune. “That’s a first for me.”

Back in March, Nester Zepeda and his horse, Palomino, chased down a man who had stolen a purse from a woman in a Los Angeles mall parking lot. In that case, the thief dropped the purse and ran, and the equestrian hero returned the purse to its rightful owner.