The rules of Horse
Horse is New Zealand’s iconic road trip game, made popular by Neil Miller esquire. From time to time there have been queries as to the rules, so I am happy to present the official rules of Horse. The three rules are:
- If you see a horse you point at it and yell out “horse” and you score one point
- If you see a picture of a horse, you point at it and yell out “picture of a horse” and you scores ten points
- If you see a cemetery, you point at it and yell out “bury all the horses” and everyone else’s scores reset to zero
The rules are quite simple and the person at the end of the trip with the most points wins, but there are a number of areas of interpretation which Mr Miller and I can provide authoritative guidance on.
Does a statue of a horse count as a picture of a horse?
Yes. Any inanimate representation of a horse counts.
Can you claim multiple pictures of horses on the one building or structure?
No. The first person who points to and claims a picture of a horse on a structure nullifies the others. So if a National Bank has four horses on it, only one can be claimed.
Do you lose a point if you claim a horse and it turns out to be a cow?
No. But you do get mocked by everyone else in the vehicle.
Does the Pegasus on Mobil petrol stations count as a horse?
Yes. A Pegasus is simply a winged horse.
What counts as a cemetery?
One or more graves. You must sight an actual grave. You can not claim a cemetery just on the basis of seeing a sign.
What do you score if you are playing horse and an advertisement on the radio has a horse neighing on it?
This was only encountered last week, and as it is so rare we believe a bonus of 20 points is appropriate.
What if you see a horse float with a horse inside it, and a picture of a horse on it?
Yell out “picture of a horse and a horse” and score 11 points.
Can the driver play?
Yes. However it is regarded as a bad thing if he or she wins as they should be concentrating on the road.