Posted on 11/21/2007 1:56:23 PM PST by Islander7
PARIS (Reuters) - French towns worried about fuel prices, pollution and striking transport workers need look no further than the horse.
Horses are a possible alternative for vehicles such as school buses and refuse trucks, say groups eager to pick up on global concerns about eco-friendly transport.
"It's all about sustainable development and bringing some humanity back to today's monotonous, machine-driven jobs," Stephane de Veyrac, from the French National Stud Organisation, said at this week's annual conference of French mayors.
De Veyrac's group says it is the first in France to offer consulting on a wide range of horse-powered vehicles that could also haul bottles and aid street sweeping.
"It is a serious alternative -- horses are already in use in over 70 towns as replacements for gasoline- and diesel-powered service vehicles," said de Veyrac, pointing to the 'Hippoville' prototype parked in the exhibition hall.
With prices starting at 11,562 euros ($17,090), this revamped horse-drawn carriage with disc brakes, signal lamps and removable seating, goes for around the same price as 170 barrels of crude oil.
De Veyrac's group was founded by Louis XIV's Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert to supply war horses for military campaigns.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
A horse and cart would do. Can’t see riding the horse and carrying groceries.
Mr. De Veyrac probably also doesn't remember the piles of HORSE MANURE in the streets in the early 1900's either!
this cracked me up
Horses are a possible alternative for vehicles such as school buses....Huh? What am I missing?...Is the horse going to tow the bus?
And you can bet that there'd be a lot more of that ...
Meals on wheels?
How do you air condition a horse drawn carriage (and still be environmentally/eco-friendly)?
Inquiring minds want to know....
Horses are more difficult and expensive to care for and feed than a small car.
(clip clop)
(Rusty snorting)
KRAMER: Y’aah!
(clip clop)
(Rusty farts)
MRS. ROSS: (sniffing) What is that?
MR. ROSS: I think it’s the horse.
MRS. ROSS: Oh, God.
KRAMER: Hey, how’s everything? You..you need anything?
MRS. ROSS: This is - this is...horrible.
MR. ROSS: Excuse me,...what do you feed this animal?
KRAMER: Oh, you know, oats and hay. You know, they like that stuff.
MRS. ROSS: I can’t take this. Let me out of this thing!
MR. ROSS: Turn this thing around. We’ve had it. We can’t breathe back here! And hurry it up!
KRAMER: Rusty! Rusty!
GEORGE: (whistling)
(clip clopping beginning in distance and growing discernibly louder)
KRAMER: Whoa!
GEORGE: Wha - what happened? What are you doing back so soon?
MR. ROSS: Ask Rusty.
KRAMER: I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Ross. One never knows how the gastrointestinal workings of the equine are going to function.
MRS. ROSS: Thanks for nothing! Come on, George. Let’s go upstairs.
GEORGE: What the hell happened?
KRAMER: The horse is gassy. Must have been the Beef-A-Reeno.
GEORGE: Beef-A-Reeno? You fed the horse Beef-A-Reeno?!
KRAMER: Well, I overbought!
Sorta like being “horsed” on your own petard LOL
How ‘bout rickshaws? We could have the unemployed french people pull them, al a Seinfeld.
~ AGW™ ping~
This is AWESOME. The French are truly mad.
Put a bun bag on ‘em.
I can’t see this making sense in large cities, but some small farmers and loggers find them a cheaper alternative to paying the fuel costs for tractors and skidders.
Actually, it would work just fine for me - I am 4 miles from my office.
I would love it.
Unfortunately, in our grand free country, owing a horse in my town has been illegal since I was a kid.
They built a metro stop where our barn used to be.
Drive-by shooting in Amish town.
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