It’s not unusual for Bronx residents to make their way into Pelham Manor to enjoy the village’s scenic beauty. But on October 8, a different kind of visitor from the Bronx made his way to the village, a renegade horse from City Island Stables.

The horse was so new to the Bronx that he hadn’t been named yet, according to Marcy Brennan, who runs the stable and bought him at an auction in Pennsylvania in late summer. The 10-year-old gelding had done a few rides, with a guide in the saddle, on the bridle path that circles the Split Rock and Pelham Bay golf courses, but hadn’t quite settled in to his new role or his surroundings, according to Brennan.

Around midday on the 8th, the stout brown horse with streaks of white slipped out of his stall and began sauntering along the dirt trail beside the bike path on Shore Road. Somehow, he was able to make his way across the busy intersection where traffic exiting from the Hutchinson River Parkway empties into a rotary.

The horse with no name then continued along the new route he had learned, skirting the inside fence along the Split Rock/Pelham Bay parking lot before turning left, going under the Amtrak tracks, and proceeding along the west side of the Split Rock course, a stretch littered with old golf balls sliced by duffers on the 8th and 9th holes.

At that point, a riding instructor was leading some customers on horseback along the path in the reverse direction, back towards the City Island Stables. She noticed that new horse was on his own, but brought her charges back to the stable before reporting the incident.

It’s not clear how the gelding got from the bridle path over to Pelham Manor, but the most likely place would have been where it intersects with the bike path, just off Shore Road. The bridle path breaks to the right, parallel to the bike path, and eventually crosses Shore Road and heads towards Bartow-Pell Mansion, but there’s an opening at the intersection where this horse could have gone left, onto the paved bike path, and made his way up to Park Lane.

Residents near the intersection of Manor Circle and Pelhamdale Avenue spotted the horse around 1 PM and alerted the Pelham Manor police, who sent a cruiser to the area. None of the local residents who emerged to see the horse knew how to corral him, but between the police and several concerned motorists, the horse with no name was able to cross over to Trestle Field.

From there, he made his way onto the grounds of the Pelham Country Club and cantered and trotted his way around to the 13th hole, where he rested. The police cruiser, with Sgt. Uyeki of the Pelham Manor Police Department, followed, parking just off Mt. Tom Road.

Meanwhile, back at the stables, the officer manager learned about the runaway horse after receiving a call from the Pelham Manor police. Barn manager Nelson Martinez saddled up his own horse and began to ride over to the PCC, crossing from the Split Rock horse trail to the bike path off Park Lane, and then to Mt. Tom Road, where he secured control of the runaway.

Brennan was not in the Bronx that day but up at her horse farm in Orange County, frantically trying to figure out how to get her gelding back to the stable.  She reached out to Scott Tarter of Twin Lake Farm in Eastchester, who drove his horse trailer to Christ Church, just down the road from the country club. Martinez led the gelding along Pelhamdale towards the Christ Church parking lot, where Tarter boarded the runaway and Martinez’s horse and returned everyone to the Bronx.

Back at the City Island Stables, the brown horse with no name was upgraded to a maximum security stall, with locking doors, Brennan said.

Weeks later, she was able to laugh about the incident.

When it comes to walking, some horses have a lot more “whoa” than “go,” she said. In the case of the Pennsylvania newcomer, he appeared to be heavy on the “go” side of the equation.

As for the animal’s background, Brennan has no idea.  Horse auctions are like used car auctions, she said.  “You rely on information from people you trust, but you don’t know who gave them the information they’re passing on to you.”

Brennan grew up on City Island and took her first ride at what used to be the Pelham Bit Stables as a child. She’s been involved in running the equestrian center since the 1990s.

Brennan says most new horses need 9 or 10 rides to get comfortable with their role.  Now, four weeks after the incident and with a number of uneventful rides under his belt, Brennan says the newcomer is fitting in just fine.

She’s even given the escapee a name: Alcatraz.