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A Horse Walks—Uh, Actually Runs—Into a Bar

Last Monday, a half-dozen people were sitting in a bar in Chantilly, France, when a racehorse burst through the door. What is this, some kind of joke?
Screenshot via YouTube

The English actor Dominic Monaghan is probably best known for playing wide-eyed hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck in the Lord of the Rings trilogy or for having the least flattering haircut in the entire cast of Lost. He can also apparently see into the future. “A horse walks into a bar,” he tweeted in May 2013. “Causing a major safety issue. #notajoke.”

It took five years, but that tweet 100 PERCENT CAME TRUE. Last Monday, a half-dozen people were sitting in a bar in Chantilly, France, when a racehorse burst through the door. She kicked violently as she sprinted the length of the joint, before making a tight turn and running back out. She broke at least one table, but no one was hurt. (The bar’s owner was relieved that the 9:55 train had been on time—otherwise, there would’ve been another 20 people standing at the bar.)

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Jean-Marie Béguigné, the horse’s trainer, said that she was “distraught,” but she did have a history of escaping from her stable. (Dude, it seems like you might want to, I dunno, train her?) “Between the [racetrack] and the stables, her rider fell,” he told Ouest France. “The filly escaped by going on the road and crossing a roundabout before entering this bar.” She was eventually caught in a parking lot, and led back down the street.

A few days later, everyone in the Sir Henry Newbolt in Bilston, England had to be waiting for the punchline when a horse walked into their own local. For whatever reason, a regular named Tommy decided that it would be cool to lead his horse into the pub. In a video shared on Facebook, a manager (or an official-looking someone wearing a tie) can be seen trying to reason with the man, while the horse stands quietly on the carpet. “Tommy, take your horse out,” someone says in a tone that suggests that maybe this wasn’t the first time.

Really, Tommy? A horse? Do you think this is some kind of joke?