Still Illegal to Drive (a Horse) Under the Influence in Kentucky
Those of you who have been following this critically important topic since at least 2012 already know this, but maybe it's time for a reminder. At least one every 14 years, that's my rule.
The Smoking Gun reports that a 48-year-old Kentucky man was arrested on March 26 and charged with violating that state's law against operating a vehicle that is not a motor vehicle anywhere in this state" while under the influence of intoxicating beverages. Ky. Rev. Stat. 189.520. The allegations in the arrest report make out a pretty solid prima facie case:
- The arrest was in Bowling Green, which is indeed in that state.
- While traveling along Glen Lily Road towards Stubbins Street, the officer observed a male partially slumped over on a horse" traveling in the opposite direction on that road.
- He then observed the male begin to travel on the sidewalk still on the horse," though the pair then returned to the roadway.
- When the officer turned around and stopped them, he talked with the male and detected the strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his person," noting that he also had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech (the latter is how we know this refers to the rider and not the horse).
- He asked the male if he was OK, to which he responded yes and that he just left the liquor store and was going home." Volunteering this information would be an example of why you shouldn't talk to police, but it wouldn't have mattered here because the officer then observed a liquor store bag tied to the saddle of the horse."
The city's arrest-report form isn't very well designed for this situation, frankly, but the officer made it work, though without being especially creative. He noted that the vehicle's color was bro[wn]," but for vehicle make and model, he just wrote other." He does seem to have asked or maybe estimated how old the horse was, because the form gives vehicle year" as 2024." Would it have been so hard to check on the model, too? Is that too much to ask?
Anyway, as noted Kentucky is one of the relatively few states where it is pretty clear that riding a horse while under the influence (the rider, I mean, not the horse) is against the law. See Don't Ride Drunk in Kentucky" (Sept. 19, 2012). In many states, the DUI laws apply to motor vehicles," which horses are not. Sometimes they apply to vehicles," which I would argue (and have argued) horses also are not. But unfortunately for the suspect in this case, another Kentucky statute still defines vehicle" as any agency for the transportation of persons or property over or upon the public highways of the Commonwealth...." Ky. Rev. Stat. 189.010(19)(a). Glen Lily Road itself is a state highway, at least according to Google Maps, so that argument's out too, even if my speculative route above is wrong in other ways.
See also, e.g., Drunken Mule-Rider Accused of Assault With Deadly Raccoon" (June 17, 2025) (focusing on the raccoon-assault charge, but also involving Kentucky law); Builders of Giant Ark Sue Over Rain Damage" (June 4, 2019) (because that happened in Kentucky); Penguin Defecates in Kentucky Legislature" (Jan. 25, 2012) (because that happened in the Kentucky Legislature).
Related Stories