TUCSON, Ariz. — Scientists and researchers have been looking just about everywhere in hopes of finding the perfect fuel. However, the solution to their eco-friendly transportation problems may lay in stables across America.

Horses.

Although it sounds ridiculous, a society that uses horses will reduce its carbon footprint exponentially.

Locally horse riding used to dominate means of transportation.

“Riding horses around was very popular then, it’s becoming much more rare now,” Tom Johnson, a retired lawyer and part-time District Court judge in Tucson said. “Back in the early ‘70s it was common, in the 80s it was occasional, but now it’s rare that you can ride anywhere because of the traffic.”

Johnson has lived in Tucson for decades and he once rode horses throughout northwest Tucson, until the traffic reached a point where he couldn't.

He wishes horse-riding would become viable again, which would save him money on gasoline.

“Every time I go to the gas station I think, hey maybe I can ride somewhere,” Johnson said.


Horses > Cars from Justin Adler on Vimeo.

There is no argument: riding horses would be much cheaper than driving, especially as the average price for a gallon of regular-unleaded gasoline is $3.02 in Arizona and as high as $3.33 in Washington, according to the American Automobile Association.

The benefits of riding a horse become even more obvious when comparing the price of a barrel of hay to a barrel of oil. Currently a barrel of crude-oil, which is needed to produce gasoline, hovers around $100, according to MSNBC.com. Not to mention horses make more horses, the same can't be said for an automobile, no matter how expensive it is.

While a barrel of hay costs around $215 a ton, which is the only way you can buy it, according to Jackie Kerr, a horse handler at the Lazy K Bar Ranch, 8401 N Scenic Dr. Kerr was sure to stress the fact that these animals eat a lot.

"They go through about 30 pounds of hay a day, and that's just the feed," Kerr said.

In addition to feed there are veterinary costs, shoeing the horses which costs about $65 dollars a horse and must be done every six to eight weeks depending on the horse, Kerr said. A horse may not just run on hay, but a car doesn't just run on gasoline; oil, tune-ups, tire rotations and other expenses add up as any car owner knows.

Nevertheless, there are obviously some downsides to the horse-riding movement.

“Bear in mind everything would slow down a lot,” retired school-bus driver Cheryl Brinker said. She added that there are many distances she would be unwilling to travel by horse, since she has grown accustomed to the luxury of the automobile.

The slowed-down lifestyle is one of the many deterrents to riding horses in 2008, along side many other problems a car-frenzied society has created for horse-riders.

As Johnson mentioned earlier, it is becoming increasingly harder to ride horses as towns develop, and it is even harder to find legal places to park your horse upon reaching a destination.

So where can you still trot or gallop your way around town in Tucson? Not to the University of Arizona according to University Parking and Transportation Services Marketing Manager Bill Davidson.

“No (laughs). Now we’ve had lots of requests for all kinds of motorized vehicles to get permits; segways and others, but never a horse,” Davidson said. “We’d probably have to pull out the old policy manual on that one.”

One horse-friendly local, is Fred’s Arena, 9650 S. Avra Road, in the Three Points region of Tucson. The western-themed bar has hitching posts and troughs for the horses, according to Cheryl Brinker.

Spencer Rogers, a computer science junior at the UA had an interesting take on riding horses on streets while watching the horse races at Rillito Park.

"One advantage would be safety," said Rodgers, "your vehicle would have extra-sensory capabilities. It would be like having two drivers."

Another advantage of horses is their ability to cross terrain that many automobiles would have trouble with. Horseback transportation would prevent most cases of drivers getting stuck in flash-floods or flooded roads.

“If you’re going to cross the river, a horse would definitely be better (than a car),” horse trainer Ramon Fontes Jr. said.

Fontes added that he frequently rides his horse to work at a comfortable pace somewhere near 20 mph. With the way traffic works in this city, it doesn’t seem so slow after all.