Power of the Horse

Written by Diana Golobay

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 10:40 PM

We’ve got the answer to rising costs of gas, and it’s not more refineries, drill sites, hybrid cars or new technology. The solution involves U.S. citizens reverting to a simpler, cleaner, more fuel-efficient technology — the horse and buggy. Before you snort in disgust and flip the page over, consider the benefits of America’s move toward equine transportation. Horses don’t put out the harmful emissions and pollutants cars do. The only by-product of your new horse transportation is fertilizer. The country’s dependence on foreign oil will dramatically decrease and our general pace of life will slow. Our commutes will shrink as we either move closer to our jobs and schools or find employment nearer to our homes. Communities will draw closer into themselves as America returns to a quieter, more economically-friendly society. Rush hour traffic will be less stressful from the saddle, and the scenery will be more interesting while traveling at five miles per hour. Additional vehicles for teenagers at home will be more affordable, as this transit automatically reproduces itself. While roads still need to be kept up and registration will still be required, the good news for poor students is that maintenance will be cheaper for everyone. The university can just let the weeds grow over current lots and charge much less than the current price for parking permits. This brings us to the discussion of dollar signs. Craigslist.com has horses priced from $900 to $1,300. You can sell your car today for the cash you’ll need to buy the horse. According to allabouthorses.com, it costs about $3,700 a year to keep a horse at home. The price includes food, bedding, medicine and miscellaneous expenses like educational magazines and other horse care products. Sit down for a few minutes and calculate how much you’re spending on your car. A quick estimation will reveal the amount you could save by switching to old-fashioned horsepower. For the sake of argument, let’s look at a hypothetical breakdown of expenses: your car costs about $9,700 a year to maintain. This includes $100 a month for insurance, $60 for gas four times a month, $450 a month for car payment, $30 per oil change three times a year, $40 for inspection and $50 for registration renewal. Your car costs $808 a month. Your new horse would cost $308 a month. The only question, now, is how can we afford not to switch? The Shorthorn: Antonina Doescher A new horse is a feasible mode of transportation for anyone, whether you have a home with land to fence the horse or have to board it. With a higher demand for horses, boarding stalls will pop up everywhere as gas stations are forced out of business. Stalls might even take the place of the corner gas store. If those big oil companies are smart, they’ll start investing in horse boarding and set up contracts with corner stores. Just imagine the signs: “Coming soon! Exxon convenience store and horse stall!” — Diana Golobay is a print journalism senior and a columnist for The Shorthorn Views: 1848 | E-mail   Comments (2)  1  Written by Charity Montieth, on 06-25-2008 13:34 Haha cute.    But one problem: After fighting for a decent spot to tie the horse in the stable, then we'd have to navigate through horse poo as we rush off to class. Report Abuse  2  Power of the Horse Written by Donna Hill, on 06-27-2008 08:27 I agree 100% and was looking into the legalities of riding horse instead of driving a car when I found out its against the village olrdinances where I live in Round Lake, IL to have a hoirse in city limits or even erect a shed for one. plus there have been many laws regarding this subject matter in the books for the highway departments. It makes me feel like I'm being forced to harm the environment and support high gas prices. Any ideas?? Report Abuse Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

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