Because of a senior prank at a Montana high school, a principal had to tend to 12 horses for the day on Monday.
But why? It’s the law, says the Conrad Public Schools district in northern Montana.
The district shared a picture on Facebook showing the 12 students on horseback outside Conrad High School. Those horses — at least for the day — were under the responsibility of school principal Raymond DeBruycker.
“Montana has an old law saying if a student rides their horse to school, the school principal has to feed and tend to the horse throughout the day,” the school district said. “It looks like Mr. DeBruycker has his work cut out for him today.”
McClatchy News could not find any record of this so-called “law,” but other students in the state have pulled similar pranks.
Two students rode horseback to Three Forks High School last year, and the school district said it was “following the law.”
In 2016, a group of seniors in Conrad had a similar idea to this year’s group.
“It’s still on the Montana law that if a student rides a horse to school the principal has to feed, water, and walk your horse,” former Pondera County Sheriff Carl Suta said, 96.3 The Blaze reported. “Six of our seniors are aware of this law on their last day of school ever. I think we might be rednecks.”
While it’s unclear if the law is still in place, a Montana’s School Transportation document from 1992 says horse stables and hitching posts were common into the 20th century on school grounds in the state.
