A Florida woman with a blood alcohol level of .161 was arrested Thursday afternoon while atop a horse.
Polk County officers arrested 53-year-old Donna Byrne after a passerby reported a "confused" woman was riding a horse along Combee Road in Lakeland, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Boduke, the horse, was not intoxicated.
"Ms. Byrne was obviously not in any condition to be on the road," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told local reporters. "She not only put herself and the horse in danger, but also anyone who was driving on the road, which is typically very busy."
Byrne has been hit with DUI (Florida's legal blood alcohol limit is .08) and animal neglect charges. In the past, Byrne has faced five felony and 10 misdemeanor charges.
In a report containing at least one ill-advised horse pun, NBC Newsconfirmed the sober horse was transported to a nearby livestock facility operated by Polk County Sheriff's Animal Control. However, they confirmed this in a perplexing passage worded in such a way that one would be forgiven for thinking NBC News meant the horse had also been booked into jail, possibly without hiring an attorney:
"Deputies took the horse to the Polk County Sheriff's Animal Control livestock facility. She was booked into the Polk County Jail. It's unclear whether she retained an attorney."
Every aspect of this story is a monumental bummer, specifically due to its potential ruining of the lyrical content of Margo Price's "It Ain't Drunk Driving If You're Riding a Horse."
