Pickens woman charged for riding stolen horse through town

A Pickens woman was charged with public disorderly conduct after deputies say she rode a horse on Main Street through Six Mile.

Tracy Nadine Ellenburg, 40, was charged by the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office around 1:35pm on July 25.

A pedestrian told deputies a woman was riding a horse on the double-yellow line and was having trouble staying on the animal according to the incident report.  “They say she rode it back and forth between cars, stopping cars,“ says witness Cindy Leitzsey.  Deputies found the horse tied to a park bench at the gas pumps at the convenience store where Leitzsey works. Ellenburg was inside trying to use the phone when she was asked for identification.  “Somebody called the law for drunk driving.  Drunk riding rather,“ Leitzsey says.

The incident report says Ellenburg smelled of alcohol and said she had consumed a six pack of beer before leaving on the horse.  “She even stopped at the cub scouts car wash booster, and she asked them to wash her horse,“ says witness Paul Pratt.  Laurie Bray watched the whole thing too.  “I told ‘em if she was gonna do it, she should have stolen a car.  At least get away!  Cause a horse doesn’t go very fast.  Somebody’s gonna notice!“

The horse’s owner, Tim Mauldin, told Newschannel 7 he won’t press charges this time.  “If she does it again I will,“ he says.

In the meantime, the horse named “Fancy” sure did fancy all the attention.  “I just stood there and held the horse, and the ice cream man came up and gave it a popcicle, somebody else gave it an apple,“ says Leitzsey.  “It was one of those Six Mile moments for sure,“ says Bray.  “That won’t ever happen again.“