At 2:28 p.m. on Feb. 2, Silver Spring resident Norm Mensh was allegedly hit by a horse on a family outing to the National Air and Space Museum. He had just bought his son a bag of popcorn when he saw a mounted Park Police officer “with long blond hair taking off like it was the wild, wild West” after a group of skateboarders on the National Mall. According to National Park Service Case Incident Record 3396, Mensh was “watching the action from a distance” when a second horseman struck him from behind. Mensh thinks the Park Service should institute an equestrian “no-chase policy” similar to the one that governs police car chases in the rest of the district. But Park Police Lt. John Pierce, who oversees the Mall’s mounted patrols, dismisses the idea as “rather comical.” He believes his officers do their best to keep their mounts under control, and he’s never heard of a visitor to the Mall being trampled. That said, “on occasion, a horse is going to accidentally step on someone.” —Jeff Horwitz