Voter Wins Straw Poll By Hoofing It To Polling Station on Horseback

Musselburgh Racecourse Press releases

Emma Bidie - River Romance 1
One voter took the term straw poll to the limit when she rode a horse from her Borders home to the polling station and back.

Emma Bidie, corporate hospitality manager at Musselburgh Racecourse, hoofed it up to cast her vote at Lilliesleaf polling station near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, to the astonishment of passers-by and fellow voters.

The five-mile round trip came about after Musselburgh Racecourse colleague and marketing boss, Aisling Johnston, sent Emma details of the Twitter hashtag #dogsatpollingstations which shows pictures of voters across the UK and their polling station pooches.

River Romance, a former racehorse, obliging stood outside the station while Emma, a lifelong horse enthusiast, nipped in to mark her X in the box for the Scottish Parliament elections.

Emma said: “We are all great dog lovers at the racecourse and Aisling sent me this hashtag with a challenge to go one better and get to the polling station on horseback.

“I was just in the process of tacking up River for our daily ride so I accepted the challenge. I can safely say I think we were the only ones to use this wonderful means of getting to and from a polling station.

“River didn’t seem too keen on the idea and I don’t think she is that interested in politics but it was great fun and we certainly got some funny looks, especially from my daughter, who drove past us and was bemused to see what her mother was up to.

“Maybe we can set a trend for the upcoming Euro referendum and we can encourage more horse enthusiasts to tie up their mounts outside while they cast their vote.”

Racecourse colleague Aisling added: “There were hundreds of pictures on social media of all these dogs waiting outside polling stations but I knew Emma would be up for a challenge and she didn’t shirk from it.”

River Romance gets a rest from political duties as Emma and the Musselburgh Racecourse team prepare for the next race meeting on Monday 9 May when all racegoers are admitted free. www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk