
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE HERBIVORES

There's been plenty of talk about how Roanoke's mounted police officers are reacting to their horses and about how the horses are reacting to their police officers.

But what about the rest of the 230,000 or so of us who live in this valley? How should we react when confronted with a horse downtown on the City Market?

Here are a few tips:

Don't even think of feeding the police horses. Only police officers are authorized to feed the animals, and besides - horses may be herbivores, but they can bite.

If you must walk behind a police horse, walk slowly, and don't do anything sudden once you're back there. Nothing can ruin a weekend like getting kicked by a horse that weighs better than half a ton.

Sudden, loud noises immediately next to the horse can startle the animal and make for big problems for noisemaker, police officer and horse.

by CNB