High School Football Game Delayed by Peeing Horse

Friday was a beautiful night for a high school football game in Queen Creek, Ariz., a suburb southwest of Phoenix. The sun was setting. The San Tan Mountains formed a dramatic backdrop behind the south end zone. A person rode onto the field on a horse, carrying an American flag. It was a beautifully picturesque scene. Everything was perfect. Until the horse did what horses do.

When the horse came to a stop at the midfield logo, it promptly peed all over the field. The ill-timed urination forced the game to be delayed while a kid with a shovel went out to scoop up as much of it as possible.

That’s the risk you run when you introduce live animals to a sporting event. Animals, especially horses, are liable to relieve themselves at inopportune times. It’s just lucky it didn’t come from the other end.

The kid who tried to clean it up did an admirable job. Scooping up a liquid off of an artificial turf field with a shovel that appears to have slots in the back can’t be easy. He was doing a diligent job, but he can’t have gotten all the horse pee. I shudder to think about all the players who got tackled at midfield during the game.