Father of three goes viral for taking horse to Bottle-O drive-thru in bid to save fuel

An Aussie dad has traded his truck for a horse to beat soaring fuel costs, making an unforgettable pit stop at his local Bottle-O.

When Daryl Braithwaite said ‘we’ll be riding on the horses’ in his 1991 hit, he probably didn’t mean through the local Bottle-O.

But ‘that’s the way it’s gonna be’ for an Aussie dad wanting to ditch fuel prices in the most Aussie way possible.

Father of three Eathon White was on the way home from a trip to Kmart with his 13-year-old daughter for hair ties and blue tac, before making a very important pit stop.

The pair atop of their horse, named Fox, were captured going through a Bottlemart drive-thru.

In remarkable scenes, Mr White is seen pulling up to the window, while on the phone, before a worker steps out bringing two cans of bourbon and eftpos machine.

Mr White then stuffs the cold beverages in his hoodie pockets, pays, and Fox swiftly trots off.

“The young bloke in the Bottle-O sort of turned his head and said ‘what the hell’s that?’ and I said, ‘yeah mate, you’re looking at it. It’s a horse in a drive-thru Bottle-o,’” Mr White said on the Today Show.

“He said, ‘yeah but what do you want?’ I said, ‘a drink mate. I’m on my home, I’m thirsty.’”

Eathon White was on his way home from Kmart before making a pit stop. Photo: Nine.

The father of three his horse for a local trip into the Bottle-O drive-thru to grab some cans of bourbon. Photo: Nine.

Mr White, a truck driver, said he already spends close to $200 a week on fuel, but has instead decided to leave his motorised vehicles at home for local trips around town in a bid to save the extra cash.

“It costs me nothing to ride him up the street and it makes people smile and it makes people happy and joyful and everyone stops and says hello. Nobody does that when you’re driving a car,” he said.

“My daughter said to me, ‘are you going to drink them on the way home?’

“I said ‘No, I’m going to wait until I get home,’ because I’m pretty sure the rules are the same for if you’re riding a horse you’re not allowed to ride and drink as if you are drinking and driving.”

White’s antics were an attempt to save on crazy fuel prices. Photo: Nine.

He said travelling on horseback was a good headturner and gets kids of technology. Photo: Nine.

Mr White said travelling on horseback provide his kids with a sense of adventure unseen since technology took off and could do the same for others.

“They’re stuck on their phones, they’re getting anxiety ridden, depression ridden. No drive to do anything. Put them on a horse and they’ll want to be outside all day, every day,” he said.

Today show host Karl Stefanovic chose to see the funny side.

“So you’re drinking-horsing and texting at the same time, with your 13-year-old in the back. This is why I love this country. We’re taking the country back champion.”

The next adventure: Mickey-D’s.

“They want to ride on the railway line back into town and then go back up the other way so they get a good ride in and go through the drive-thru at Macca’s.”

Originally published as Father of three goes viral for taking horse to Bottle-O drive-thru in bid to save fuel