This South Beach nightclub was fined over $20,000 after a model rode a horse inside and through the dance floor, and then got bucked off.
An extremely stressed out horse is recovering in south Florida this week after an incident at a Miami nightclub called Mokai Lounge.
Riding a horse into a hip hop venue packed with drunken revelers while wearing a thong bikini may seem like a cool idea at first. But one Florida establishment found out that it can go wrong very quickly, when the horse bucked off the model in front of everyone.
Now the Mokai Lounge has been shut down by local authorities until further notice. The Miami Herald reports the club owners have been charged with animal cruelty and threatening public safety. They will have to pay a $12,150 payment in code violations, and donate $10,000 to an animal rescue nonprofit named Peaceful Ridge Rescue for Horses.
According to Mayor Dan Gelber, “What kind of idiot would do something like this to an animal and endanger people’s lives at that club?”
The Miami-Dade Police said that the horse seems healthy but they don’t know it’s name.
Club goers caught what happened on smartphone video. We have prepared a play by play analysis of what went down that fateful night in South Beach.
It’s difficult to make out in the dim light of the dance floor. Here we see the model entering the center of the crowd riding a white horse.
Shortly afterwards the horse is struck by an intense wave of social anxiety. He becomes frightened by the loud noises, flashing lights and strange people touching him.
Confused and freaked out the horse either trips or faints briefly. The animal then bucks the bikini-clad woman off it’s shoulders and looks around for an escape route.
The horse about to have a total meltdown. It lashes out at a man trying to help, biting the arm of his button up shirt suitable for a Miami nightclub.
The horse is relieved to be led outside the nightclub as it heads for the exit sign.
There are pictures from the disco days of people literally riding a white horse inside Studio 54, including this famous image of Bianca Jagger, Mick Jagger’s ex-wife who was his then wife during the 70’s. But she was an actress and social rights activist who could pull it off. Or perhaps the horse they used had a mellower personality. And that was in New York not Florida.
This much is certain. It is illegal to take your horse to the club in Miami — and your baby.
Read about Miami Music Week, one of the top spring EDM festivals in the world. Maybe a space cowgirl or cowboy outfit will soothe your craving for country in the club.