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Why McDonald's should serve horses (no, not in the food … ) Why McDonald's should serve horses (no, not in the food … )
(2 months later)
There is absolutely nothing new about leaping on your horse to nip to the local for a bite to eat. Even if most of the stables behind country inns now house cars or spas, some pubs – particularly near celebrated riding spots like the New Forest and Windsor Great Park – are still proud to offer tethering spots for horses outside.There is absolutely nothing new about leaping on your horse to nip to the local for a bite to eat. Even if most of the stables behind country inns now house cars or spas, some pubs – particularly near celebrated riding spots like the New Forest and Windsor Great Park – are still proud to offer tethering spots for horses outside.
The Manchester McDonald's which kicked up a stink when a young client took her pony in and left its own little stink in their wake is perhaps missing a trick. Why have a policy of turning away riders and cyclists from drive-throughs? Have you never seen how much these people eat? It is a longstanding irony of sport that the tighter the sports kit, the more ravenous the wearer. No one gets the munchies like someone out for a brisk ride. And with petrol and horse values moving in extremely different directions, more people may yet revert to good old-fashioned horsepower for local errands.The Manchester McDonald's which kicked up a stink when a young client took her pony in and left its own little stink in their wake is perhaps missing a trick. Why have a policy of turning away riders and cyclists from drive-throughs? Have you never seen how much these people eat? It is a longstanding irony of sport that the tighter the sports kit, the more ravenous the wearer. No one gets the munchies like someone out for a brisk ride. And with petrol and horse values moving in extremely different directions, more people may yet revert to good old-fashioned horsepower for local errands.
Doubtless eggheads at McDonald's HQ will raise the alarm about producing food around livestock; the dangers of automatic traffic barriers and so on. But, assuming the latter are not mistaken for a show jump – which could admittedly have awkward consequences – surely an equine presence can be no more unsanitary than producing fast food adjacent to a very slow line of belching exhausts?Doubtless eggheads at McDonald's HQ will raise the alarm about producing food around livestock; the dangers of automatic traffic barriers and so on. But, assuming the latter are not mistaken for a show jump – which could admittedly have awkward consequences – surely an equine presence can be no more unsanitary than producing fast food adjacent to a very slow line of belching exhausts?
If McDonald's is truly proud of its burgers, why not show the beast that has been a victim of the murkier end of the meat trade some hospitality, with a water trough and hitching post? Even a few McMints, perhaps?If McDonald's is truly proud of its burgers, why not show the beast that has been a victim of the murkier end of the meat trade some hospitality, with a water trough and hitching post? Even a few McMints, perhaps?
Horse & Hound readers, I am pleased to say, are already familiar with saddlebag picnics, especially the hunting lot. A few sandwiches, sausage rolls, a chocolate bar and swig of cherry brandy is less of a luxury than a necessity when you've been thundering around half-frozen countryside, faux-hunting for the better part of four hours.Horse & Hound readers, I am pleased to say, are already familiar with saddlebag picnics, especially the hunting lot. A few sandwiches, sausage rolls, a chocolate bar and swig of cherry brandy is less of a luxury than a necessity when you've been thundering around half-frozen countryside, faux-hunting for the better part of four hours.
I've never yet seen a pack sweep into a drive-through mid-hunt – although a photo of a young rider visiting a cashpoint with his horse and cart in tow was something of a an internet hit last summer. But as Britain is gradually devoured by HS2 and the inexorable concrete sprawl gradually destroys our lanes and verges, will it one day end up the horse's only option for a mid-ride munch? Nosebag and flies to go, please.I've never yet seen a pack sweep into a drive-through mid-hunt – although a photo of a young rider visiting a cashpoint with his horse and cart in tow was something of a an internet hit last summer. But as Britain is gradually devoured by HS2 and the inexorable concrete sprawl gradually destroys our lanes and verges, will it one day end up the horse's only option for a mid-ride munch? Nosebag and flies to go, please.
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