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Police Snapped Riding A Horse Inside Bondi Hotel

Neigh-bourly Police Horse Rides Into A Local Bar. No, Really.
Carmen Culina

There are a few standard characters you're bound to run into on a night out at the pub; the cranky old regular, quietly downing pints of Old in the corner; the young guys on a boys night out; the loud group celebrating a birthday party.

The list of usual suspects doesn't often include a large police horse trotting around the bar.

Sydney man Jonno Seidler spotted the equine interloper at Bondi's Beach Road Hotel on Sunday afternoon. Seidler told The Huffington Post Australia he and his girlfriend were returning home after lunch, when they pulled up at an intersection next to the police mounted patrol; one officer on horseback outside the premises, another well inside the entryway and still mounted on the back of his noble steed.

"The horses are around Bondi a lot. I guess it's the easiest way of getting to a situation on the beach if they need to... it's a regular patrol on the weekends," he said.

"We were driving back from lunch, and pulled up next to the patrol around 1.30pm."

Seidler's girlfriend, Carmen, snapped a photo of the police patrol and Seidler later uploaded it to Instagram, where the image has since been shared and spread widely. Many comments criticised the police for bringing the horse inside, claiming it was the latest in a police and government crackdown on licensed premises.

So a horse walks into a bar.. 📷 @jonnoseidler

A photo posted by Patrick Stevenson (@patstevensonhobo) on

Some reports have stated the police horse was actually invited inside the hotel by management for a photo opportunity. When contacted by HuffPost Australia, a manager at the Beach Road Hotel denied that claim, but declined to comment further.

HuffPost Australia has submitted questions to NSW Police about why the horse was inside the bar. They responded by saying "Mounted Unit officers patrolling the Bondi area were invited in by the manager of the establishment for a NEIGH-bourly chat."

A photo purportedly of the horse inside the bar was posted to Twitter on Monday morning.

Seidler said he was unsure of why the horse was in the bar, whether by invitation, or otherwise.

"It's a horribly inefficient way of doing business. Walking in on foot is a better way of sussing out the situation inside," he said.

It is unclear whether the bartender made use of this once-in-a-lifetime to delve into the veritable treasure trove of bar/horse-related jokes.

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