Horses in the news

Is it my imagination - or is there a surfeit of horsy stories around right now?

At the weekend, the Daily Mail announced that a "stalking horse" might now stand against Gordon Brown. This was a story about how disgruntled Labout MP's might put up a candidate to run against our Dear Leader in the autumn.

Unfortunately, the dramatic effect was quite ruined by a combination of my poor eyesight and a tendency to skim read. What, for a moment, I thought it said was "Talking Horse" to stand, etc.

Which is an altogether far more interesting image. Gordon Brown vs. Mr Ed! Now THERE's a contest I'd like to see.

Meanwhile, various candidate sculptures are advanced for the "Angel of the South". One of these is a gigantic statue of a white horse.

Ah, dear! Has classical education completely died in this country?

Don't do it! For no sooner will the horse have been put up and the admiring crowds gone home for the night, then... a little trapdoor will open underneath, and a marauding army of Greeks - and maybe, nowadays, a few Albanians - will leap out to ravage the Kent countryside.

Well, it MIGHT happen.

Since we are so risk-averse in every other aspect of our lives, I wonder that no-one else has pointed out this danger to those deciding on the appropriate statuary with which to grace our fair land.