JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) – It’s not Texas, it’s a pasture south of Jackson where you’ll find a real Michigan cowboy named Ricky Littlejohn, one of the few in the entire state.
“Oh, I think I am [wrangled] my first cow when I was 15,” Littlejohn said.
Littlejohn and his fiancee, Trina Resendez, are professional cow catchers who not only catch cows at the rodeo, but also in real life.
“We do it almost every day, but not usually on the highway,” they said.
But that’s where their last job took them.
A bull that had been missing for six weeks was found wandering north of Holly near I-75.
“They called me and said, ‘Hey, is there any way you can come over here and help?’ And I was a little nervous because it’s very dangerous on the highway,” he said.
But Littlejohn called his team, pulled horses, dogs and a rope, and ended up chasing the cow down the middle of the freeway.
His practice paid off: he tied up the 1,200-pound animal before it could be hit by a car.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before and it was really cool to be a part of the whole chase,” Littlejohn said.
A video captured on a dash cam by a Michigan state trooper has now become a viral hit. A local cowboy, now a local hero, enjoys his ride.