# They don't have horses in Detroit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586 "2012-11-30T17:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/1 "2012-11-30T17:35:27Z")
I am continually surprised by how completely different life is for people who don’t live in my part of the country. I was shocked-- shocked!-- that nobody knows what a buttered (hard) roll was or what ordering a Jamaican beef patty with cheese at a pizzeria will get you. Or that you can order a Jamaican beef patty with cheese at a pizzeria. Or what a Jamaican beef patty is. Or what a real pizzeria is. But all that is food related and food is personal and regional. Today, however, a co-worker, newly arrived from Detroit, looked out of his window into the Roosevelt Field (a very large mall) parking lot and exclaimed, 'Is that a HORSE!? Look! A HORSE!!!" We all went running to see expecting, oh, I don’t know, a horse being drawn and quartered. Or maybe being hung or driving a car. What we saw? A mounted policeman. Surely all big cities have mounted police? How do they control rioters without them? Have you been surprised by what out-of-towners find extrodinary where you are? ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/2 "2012-11-30T18:18:45Z")
That’s odd. Detroit has had mounted police since the 1860s. They’re part of the Thanksgiving Parade every year. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/3 "2012-11-30T18:33:47Z")
I don’t think it’s necessarily specific cities but peoples patterns. I love horses but it’s probably been a year or so since I’ve seen one in the flesh. I work too far north of the regular patrol zone of our mounted police for them to be regular visitors and I live in an urban neighborhood where even the old houses with huge yards are less than .25 acre. I don’t think I’d be quite as excited as your coworker but it might depend on how silly I was feeling that day or how in need of a break 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/4 "2012-11-30T18:57:07Z")
When I was a child of perhaps six my teenaged cousins from Philadelphia came down here and we took them to the family reunion. I will never forget how every goddamned five minutes they’d be all “LOOK, ZSOFIA! COWS!” Like, are they six legged cows? Are they talking cows? No, they’re JUST COWS. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/5 "2012-11-30T19:38:58Z")
I’m always stunned that there are places in the world (like Australia or Japan) where squirrels are considered exotic. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/6 "2012-11-30T19:50:46Z")
Huh. While Minneapolis or St. Paul may have mounted police, they’re certainly not a regular sight. I may have seen one, a good while ago. It’s just not really practical for the city to maintain horses around here - they could only be used maybe 8 months out of the year. And we’re not really known for our riots, either, so it’s possible there’s just no need. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/7 "2012-11-30T20:01:02Z")
What’s a horse? Are they like homeless people? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/8 "2012-11-30T20:04:43Z")
[_cough_](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#q=detroit+area+horseback+riding&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=u&source=univ&tbm=plcs&sa=X&ei=QxG5UM2mF6HYywHtooDADA&ved=0CC4QtQM&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=1e0988842541a39d&bpcl=39314241&ion=1&biw=1304&bih=899) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/9 "2012-11-30T20:08:23Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Today, however, a co-worker, newly arrived from Detroit, looked out of his window into the Roosevelt Field (a very large mall) parking lot and exclaimed, 'Is that a HORSE!? Look! A HORSE!!!" Did he live and work in downtown Detroit where he might occasionally encounter a mounted officer? Or was he from a Detroit suburb, where those things just aren’t seen? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/10 "2012-11-30T20:23:53Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Did he live and work in downtown Detroit where he might occasionally encounter a mounted officer? Or was he from a Detroit suburb, where those things just aren’t seen? We actually work in the suburbs of NYC (Long Island) but we have mounted police everywhere here. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/11 "2012-11-30T20:45:58Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’m always stunned that there are places in the world (like Australia or Japan) where squirrels are considered exotic. They can have some. And there are some parts where squirrels are considered food, which may squick others. At the start of the Afghanistan War, many were bemused that the US was sending at least one honest cavalry unit. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/12 "2012-11-30T20:50:27Z")
I’ve never seen a mounted police officer. I live in Phoenix, which might have something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/13 "2012-11-30T21:00:32Z")
Maybe there is a shortage of bulletproof horse-vests in the greater Detroit area. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/14 "2012-11-30T21:14:36Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > They can have some. And there are some parts where squirrels are considered food, which may squick others. Likewise, we had a houseguest from Spain who was (mildly) surprised to notice that we would sometimes get rabbits in our backyard. His comment: “In Spain, that would be lunch in about five minutes.” ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/15 "2012-11-30T21:29:38Z")
[QUOTE=Snickers] Huh. While Minneapolis or St. Paul may have mounted police, they’re certainly not a regular sight. I may have seen one, a good while ago. It’s just not really practical for the city to maintain horses around here… [/QUOTE] IIRC, most people downtown are in the Skyway, which probably isn’t too amenable to mounted patrols.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/16 "2012-11-30T21:34:28Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > IIRC, most people downtown are in the Skyway, which probably isn’t too amenable to mounted patrols.🆒 However that WOULD be worthy of comment! ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/17 "2012-11-30T21:47:13Z")
I spent most of my life in Chicago or the close in suburbs. I was a little freaked out when my parents took us to Colorado to visit some friends of theirs on a farm and we actually got to pick corn. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/18 "2012-11-30T21:52:43Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’ve never seen a mounted police officer. I live in Phoenix, which might have something to do with it. I’ve seen them out here. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/19 "2012-11-30T21:56:05Z")
My sister and her family came to visit years ago during the last week of August. My nieces were amazed that students in our area start school before Labor Day. They thought it was very amusing until I pointed out that kids from our area could visit where they lived and be amazed that they were _still in school a week after_ the this-area kids had gotten out. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586/20 "2012-11-30T22:16:38Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I spent most of my life in Chicago or the close in suburbs. I was a little freaked out when my parents took us to Colorado to visit some friends of theirs on a farm and we actually got to pick corn. There’s a whole lot of corn growing much closer to Chicago than that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-dont-have-horses-in-detroit/642586.md?page=2)