This could lead to a whole new area of comedy? ( A horse walks into a bar, etc.) I'm astonished to read a report that customers may have been offended by the sight and smell. I've always had that problem with Fast Food restuarants! Given the recent furore about horsemeat, pony and horse owners are surely ill-advised to be taking their mounts anywhere near?

I agree - the stable door needs shutting

Trying to stirrup controversy no doubt, but why does 'health and safety' always get saddled with the blame?

As the police described the horse as "....doing his business on the floor", it seems that the police were diligent in their observations as to the gender of the horse. Moreover, to avoid using a cumbersome euphemism, the police could have simply said the horse defecated on the floor. On a pedantic note, "on the floor" is perhaps superfluous because on the floor or ground is where horses invariably defecate! As an aside, years ago I saw horses pulling carriages for tourist rides in Prague. Most of the horses seemed to be provided with an inclined hammock feature (slung from their harnesses and their carriage drawbar) designed to catch their dung rather than allow it to fall on the ground. In view of the issues (unintentional pun) which can occur during ceremonial military parades and other events involving horses, perhaps there's scope for someone to design and sell equine nappies if they don't already exist. Back to the main topic: there's a rumour that a rival restaurant company is thinking about adding "ride through" to its "drive through" facilities at its outlets in a bid to garner extra trade from horse riding customers!

Several of the other online reports of the case describe the horse as "leaving a deposit" while others simply use the word "defecated". Anyhow, though the various reports commonly refer to "health and safety reasons", none seem to mention hygiene which is surely a basic reason why animals (except dogs trained to assist those who are blind or have a serious hearing impairment) generally shouldn't be allowed in eating establishments. This thread reminds me of seeing a sheep in a fairly remote pub in the Yorkshire Dales a few years ago. If anyone is sceptical about this claim, I've got a photo of it along with several other (human) customers in the bar (pronounced by said sheep as "baa!). Forum users who are acquainted with Yorkshire Breweries might be amused to learn that its favourite beer apparently was brewed at one with an ovine-related name. From having just looked at the photo, the sheep looked remarkably clean and was probably cleaner and fresher than some of the perspiring, mud-besmirched walkers and cyclists who comprise some of the pub's usual clientele. The pub floor comprised bare stone slabs which would be easy to clean with brush and/or mop after visits by people with muddy footwear and any lack of continence by the aforementioned sheep! :-)

I've been waiting all afternoon for Graham to take this thread to a whole new level ;-)

Oh I do like that one Graham: " A sheep walks into a ba-aaa"! Anyhoo, given the argument that guide dogs are excepted, what about ponies? http://www.guidehorse.org/

What do horses like their burgers on Thoroughbred Mr forum moderator --I promise not to contribute to this post ever again