OK, so the Chimp is scared of horses, but maybe with good reason.

[JohnyCanuck]

We know Dubya has a powerful sense of self preservation (witness his draft dodging in the Viet Nam era), so maybe he's just playing it smart to stay off of horses too (even though Karl would've killed for a picture of Dimson riding the range on horseback a la Ronnie Regan).

Uneasy riders: Horses riskier than motorcycles
Hour-per-hour more equestrians are seriously hurt, study shows

ANDRÉ PICARD

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

September 24, 2007 at 3:50 AM EDT

Hour-per-hour in the saddle, more riders are seriously injured riding horses than motorcycles.

That is the surprising revelation of a new study from researchers at the University of Calgary.

Equally surprising is that those being hurt and killed are not rookie equestrians but, in large part, veteran riders.

"If you're 47 years old, a good experienced rider and it's sunny out, you can still get seriously hurt or die," said Rob Mulloy, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary and co-author of the study.

The reason this happens, he said, is that "horses are independent beings with their own agenda." Not to mention that horses weigh up to 500 kilograms, move at a speed of up to 65 kilometres an hour, elevate riders up to three metres above ground and kick with a force of nearly one ton.

The research, published in the American Journal of Surgery, is based on a decade of trauma data collected at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070924.whorses24/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home