What Happened: Stephen Harmon (@cowboyatheart82) posted a video of himself riding a full-sized horse through a Target store with the caption “Taking A Horse Inside Target.”
Key Moments: Staff tried to stop him as shoppers reacted, and the horse defecated on the floor multiple times.
Impact: The clip went viral, drawing millions of views and debate over safety, liability and who should clean up the mess.
A video that circulated widely on social media shows Stephen Harmon, who goes by @cowboyatheart82, riding a full-sized horse through the aisles of a Target store. Harmon posted the clip to Instagram with the caption “Taking A Horse Inside Target,” and a companion recorded the ride as shoppers and staff looked on in surprise.
Some customers appeared amused by the unexpected scene—one shopper even paused to pet the animal—while store employees quickly moved to intervene. Voices captured in the footage include an employee shouting, “What are you doing?” and others asking Harmon to leave the premises.
During the incident the horse defecated on the store floor multiple times. The person filming can be heard reacting to the mess. Despite staff efforts to stop the stunt, Harmon continued riding through the store before exiting. A worker is heard saying that a horse did not belong inside the store.
The clip gained millions of views after it was shared across platforms, prompting a wide mix of responses: some viewers found the stunt funny, while many criticized the act as disrespectful and unsafe. Commenters frequently raised concerns about store employees being left to manage the cleanup and the liability risk of bringing a large animal into a retail environment.
“Just next time you go in a facility, put something back there to catch the poop. That’s so rude and disrespectful to leave for someone else to have to clean,” wrote one viewer.
According to Harmon’s social accounts, this was not his first time bringing a horse into a retail store. A previous video showed him riding the same horse into a Tractor Supply location, where a manager called the stunt a liability and asked him to leave.
Beyond the viral spectacle, the episode highlights questions about public safety, store policies, and courtesy to employees. Retailers typically prohibit animals like horses inside stores for health, safety and liability reasons, and many viewers argued the stunt crossed a line even if it produced a memorable clip.
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