Yesterday, as I walked to work, crossing busy intersections and passing packed parking garages, I tried envisioning what the world would be like if motorized vehicles were suddenly extinct and replaced by horses. Here are the bullet point thoughts I jotted down...

• To meet the needs of most modern people, the primary mode of transportation would have to be the horse and buggy or the horse-drawn carriage; each requiring one or two horses.
• People who drove SUVs would likely buy covered wagons that required four or more horses (or one elephant).
• Teenagers wanting the equivalent of muscle cars would hook four horses up to a buggy. They would probably watch shows like Pimp My Hooves and Monster Stable.
• Motorcyclists would learn to ride horses outfitted with chrome saddles.
• The equivalent of a Toyota Yaris or Ford Focus would be a donkey.
• People who liked hybrids would ride mules.
• Parking lots would have to be outfitted with hitching posts, water troughs, and parking attendants.
• In big cities, parking garages would be converted into multi-story barns.
• Gas stations would be feed and watering stations. There would be three qualities of hay: regular, premium, and unleaded (because folks can only handle so much change at one time).
• Fast food restaurants would have ride-thrus instead of drive-thrus.
• Mechanics would have to take crash courses in veterinary medicine.
• Auto dealerships would become horse dealerships. Domestic horses would have to compete with horses imported from Germany and Japan. To increase sales, Japanese horses would be advertised as being "Bred and Fed in America".
• At home, families would likely have to convert their garages or driveways into stables or pens.
• Those families you see with three or more cars out front could have six or more horses roaming their property.
• The DMV would have to change it's name to the Department of Horses or DoH.
• Instead of this video, David Hasselhoff would have made "Jump on my Horse"
• As for me, I probably wouldn't have a horse until I had received the proper allergy shots. In the meantime, I would be relegated to riding a bicycle, deriving what little pleasure I could from spooking horses by ringing my bell.