I was running to and fro in central Oxford yesterday, taking care of a few business-related errands. My travels took me down Cornmarket Street when I chanced upon two mounted police officers. My first thought was ‘Wow! Those are big horses!’
The woman in the foreground of the photo is an adult, as is the woman on the opposite side of the far horse, who is chatting with one of the policemen. These two women illustrate just how massive the horses are.
And then I realised that the two horses were wearing high-visibility harnesses. And I thought about that. Why? In case somebody doesn’t see the massive, 6-foot tall, 1,000 pound animal carrying a full-size man in a bright yellow jacket, he might just see those little neon-yellow straps?
Public Service Notice
On a tangent from today’s post, and as a public service to any chickenmonkeydoggers looking for quality Mexican food in the UK, I have found it. The Mission Mexican Grill.
The chap who runs the place is from Oxford – and he spent some time in San Francisco. Upon his return to the UK, he could find no decent Mexican restaurants, so he decided to open his own. I had a steak burrito with all the fixin’s there yesterday. Outstanding! I could almost taste the Rio Grande. Definitely on the posh side of burritos, perhaps due to the San Francisco influence, but still a quality bit of Mexicana right on St Michael’s Street, in Oxford, OX1.
@ Liam:
I think unlike humans, horses probably only dress up once in the day. So the same, er, costume must last them in the ‘office’ and in the evening when it is dark and the harness may help them not be killed? What say?
@ Shefaly –
Killed by cars? I suppose that’s a possibility, but again I’d suggest that if someone can’t see an object the size of those two horses, is that someone going to swerve out of the way in time when they suddenly see the high-vis straps?
Maybe something more fully-body would be better … you know, like how knights of yore used to dress up their mighty steeds.
Hmm. I wasn’t thinking cars but bigger vehicles. I am thinking the riders appear to be wearing reflective vests too so the overall effect may be greater visibility?
Then again who knows those chaps at ‘elfin safety’ are working in overdrive again?
Hi Shefaly – I suppose the strips wouldn’t hurt the visibility of the horses, but I think the folks down at H&S were working their magic on this one.
Oh, those officers are simply taking their horses for a jog, and they made sure to dress them in reflective night-gear. Could double as a trick-or-treating safety mechanism.
Hi Ali – Oh, is that it? Like the glow-in-the-dark arm and foot bands that joggers wear when running outside at night in the winter? Oh … then it all makes sense. Ha-ha!
Thanks for visiting. We’ve not heard from you in a while. Welcome back. We’ve missed you.
I think it is so the horses can be recognized as on-duty police horses; so that one may not be confused and think the officers have simply commandeered a local farmer’s steeds, leaving him standing in a field with a wagon hitched to dirt. Clearly these horses are dressed the part.
Now if you will excuse me, I find myself inexplicably in the mood for a burrito.
Wow, you are right…
On your recommendation I popped into this little Mexican grill on Saturday and it was amazing. I have to say, I got so excited at the sight of all these yummy ingredients that I hardly thought about it and ordered the 3 tacos with, EVERYTHING.
Sorry to everyone who had to watch me tackling them and thanks to the grassy riverbanks for supporting my following Siesta, but wow they were YUMMY and I am going to do it all again ASAP!!
that’s what you call the sense of ridiculous
Hi Tazeen –
Thanks for visiting! Welcome, welcome.
And I totally agree with you – the straps do seem rather ridiculous.
Thanks for the comment.