Horses Make Good Drinking Buddies

So we are all aware of the perils of drinking and driving, indeed it is not a laughing matter. However, have we given much thought to the perils of drinking and riding? In my experience, yes. My mother-in-law is locally famous for consuming a couple stiff drinks before heading down the road on her Thoroughbred in the middle of the night with a canteen filled with whatever. Fortunately the horse seems to have enough brains for the both of them because there have never been any incidents that I'm aware of.

My husband is another that seems a little more jolly about a leisurely trail ride if he can sip a beer along the way, as you can see in this picture; one of my favorites of him. That's Amanda under him, his mother's horse and more suited to him size-wise than my little paints. And anyways she is used to babysitting the slightly inebriated.

For me it just brings to mind the heart-wrenching scene from Black Beauty where his drunk rider pushes him to run as he was loosing a shoe, which caused a wreck that horribly scared Beauty's knees for life. I'm comforted at least to know that no horse I know is obedient enough to go along with that senario.

You see, unlike vehicles, horses do have minds of their own. Since they are the ones with their feet on the ground, they really have the final say. And, of course, they don't drink. Well, for the most part; mom-in-law did have a gelding she said liked apricot brandy. But my concern is more for the drinker sitting six feet up on a moving animal.

A horse, unless it's blind, probably won't walk into a telephone pole, but a low branch can do funny things to someone on a wobbly seat and that's a pretty long drop.

So if you have to have a drink and then put some miles behind you, I'm just saying go for a ride, instead of a drive.

Oops. Maybe I should be more specific.

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