That guy went though a lot of trouble creating the world's crappiest looking horse carriage. Just remember to wash down the conveyor belt so the horse doesn't have to walk in his own feces.

That's just dumb. Just get a horse-drawn buggy. Way cheaper and looks more efficient. Not only that, but kinder on the horse. If I were a horse, I'd rather be out smelling the fresh air than closed up in a plastic box on a treadmill.

I agree ... what a waste of a perfectly good horse ... why didn't he just ride it?

"I agree ... what a waste of a perfectly good horse ... why didn't he just ride it?"

He said that his goal was to attract attention.. Guess it worked.

Talk about a Dutch Oven!

This particular application... pointless (at best). Its not a solution to anything.

But it does makes you think.

If I'd made a version with people running on it, you would say what a waste, but surely, that's all that a bike is. A bike is also possibly our greatest invention. People to need to think seriously about not only where energy comes from, but also how it is made to work. Horses are an instantly available source for converting biomass into useable power (just as our own bodies are, just a little more industrial). I still can't think of a better tractor alternative than a horse (perhaps that's why used them for countless centuries). Tractors are only usefull in that they allow us to farm on an unsustainable scale. Just think horses not only use biomass to run (without fancy conversion plants) but also to manufacture. They also maintain themselves.

As i see it, with our current technology, the only carbon neutral economy will use bikes for personal transport and horses for freight. Can't really see solar as feasible for transport at the moment (or ever really). Biofuels are great in theory but don't actually do anything to reduce our impact on the planet. People need to get out of the idea that everything has to travel at 80mph (or more). What was is it I read somewhere, if every person in the UK were to have a house and enough land to be self sufficient, an area the size of Northern Ireland would be all that was needed. It's interesting how very few people reject a self-sufficient "alternative" lifestyle, yet increasing numbers reject mainstream lifestyles. So why is everyone so desperate to sit in traffic during rush hour? I for one would rather steadily groan away up the steepest hill on my bike than sit and actually acheive nothing in a car.

One factual error in the article:

A horse doesn't actually produce one horsepower; It's more like about 12 or more. The original definition of a horsepower is just derived a little funny: roughly what you can expect a horse to pull over the course of one day. A horse might be able to produce many times more peak horsepower at any given time, but over the course of a 24 hour period, at least 8 of those hours are spent sleeping, and others are spent doing something other than work, while a motor can work day and night without rest.

As for the reason why you would *want* to put a horse on a treadmill, that's simple. For the same reason you would want to put a person on a bicycle. That is, for mechanical advantage. It's really tough for a horse to get up to 80Km/h, but with this rig it's not that hard at all.

"One factual error in the article:

A horse doesn't actually produce one horsepower; It's more like about 12 or more."

Interesting stuff, though I'm not sure I would call it a factual error.. I think they were just going for the wordplay.

Hmmm. I'm an engineer and a horse owner as well. This is clever, but I would never subject any of our equines to such a contraption. It's true that peak power is much higher - I would guess our (very fit) jumpers would max more like 30+hp. So yes with the right 'gearing' they could go much faster. But I can't help but feel for the poor horse in the photos who's feet don't look properly shod.

Here's another version of the same idea:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lancaster_County_Amish_03.jpg

It's kind of like this

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/car_uses_real_l.php

It's a joke, people! The point of this vehicle is to be ridiculous!

i believe we will all be using horses/horse and traps in the future...

or using shiny pushbikes like me!

This is cool and the guy is pretty hot. Can I have his number. I would ride in that beast anyday as long as he is right next to me.

i like the idea. you cant put ads on a horse. and this comment thing needs a lot of work. a ton in fact.

The point may be that he can achieve road speeds using 1 horse power (or 12) but conventional cars need much more. I like this! I wish I could take my mule to the store but we've had scary moments with idiot drivers in the past. This would not put as much stress on a horse's back or shoulders as riding or pulling and his head is within easy reach to deliver treats or Gatorade (they love Gatorade). You're right, engineer, he didn't have conventional shoes, just a leather cover. Metal shoes might not work, if it were me I'd try Easyboots (plastic horse booties). This could be very humane. Horses need to move to stay healthy and if trained with positive reinforcement, he would want to hop on the treadmill.