Geelong’s Mayor, Darryn Lyons, Fell Off A Horse

This seems an easy enough equation to figure out. A man, wearing mayoral robes, gets on a horse. The horse doesn’t much like it, and does the bolt. The man subsequently falls off. Fairly logical conclusion to draw, right? That’s exactly what happened to the guy that the entire city of Geelong decided would be a good fit to be their mayor in former notorious paparazzo Darryn Lyons. What’s better, is that the whole damned thing was caught on video. Bless you, internet.

The whole thing went down whilst Lyons was attempting to film a new tourism ad for Geelong. The ad, shot on the beach, featured a scene where Lyons would ride a horse in all his mayoral splendour. Unfortunately for him, the horse, being a living creature with the ability to make its own decisions, got a wee bit spooked by the flapping of robes in the breeze, a fact that merely added to the rather poetic nature of the situation. The horse bolted for the hills and, though Lyons is a rather experienced rider, he eventually fell off. Suffering a mild concussion and strained ligaments, Lyons also copped cuts to the eye after errant mayoral chains hit him in the face. On an unrelated note, there’s probably a market for bounce-friendly sports bling among certain balling circles.
Lyon’s staff stated that he’d had no problems riding the same horse a few days earlier when he was wearing regular riding gear. We’ve no idea why on earth switching to heavy robes, outlandish gold and jeans would change that. Nope. No idea whatsoever.
The ad may have to do without the completion of the shot too, as Lyons apparently has very little desire to get back in the saddle anytime soon. We wish Lyons a speedy recovery from his afflictions, hope no serious damage was done to the ab implants, and that the incident in no way sours your view on this Australian classic.

Photo: Chris Jackson via Getty Images.


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