A bizarre incident at a Target store in the United States has taken social media by storm, after a man decided to go shopping in a rather unconventional way—on horseback. The event, captured in a now-viral video, shows the rider and his equine companion creating chaos, culminating in the animal defecating on the store floor.
The Unusual Shopper and the Escalating Situation
The video, widely shared on platform X (formerly Twitter), features a man identified as TikTok content creator Stephen Harmon. He is seen casually riding a horse through the aisles of the store, accompanied by another individual. Shoppers and staff members are visibly stunned, with some recording the surreal scene on their phones. At one point, a customer even stops to pet the horse as it ambles past.
The situation took a turn for the worse when the horse defecated several times on the clean store floor. In the audio from the clip, a Target employee can be heard yelling in frustration, “What are you doing? Get out of the store with the horse!” The video concludes with store security personnel escorting Harmon and his horse out of the building after they completed a full lap around the store.
Social Media Erupts with Reactions
The clip was posted by X user @CollinRugg on January 7, 2026, with a caption detailing the event. It quickly garnered massive attention, sparking a flood of humorous and concerned reactions from netizens.
One user joked about emotional support animals, writing, “seen people bring their dogs into a store, so i’m cosigning this… maybe its an emotional support animal.” Another focused on the unexpected nature of the event, commenting, “Unexpected Target adventure, proof real life still surprises us. Hope everyone stayed safe and laughing.”
Others expressed relief that the situation did not turn more dangerous. A third user noted, “Good thing that horse didn’t freak out and kick someone or the store didn’t have a lot more people in it.”
Not the First Incident of Its Kind
This is not an isolated case of horseback riding in retail spaces. In April 2025, a similar video went viral where four men, calling themselves “cutthroat cowboys,” rode horses through a Walmart store in Louisiana. Such stunts, often performed for social media clout, raise significant questions about public safety and store policy enforcement.
The viral video from Target highlights the ongoing challenge retailers face with unpredictable disruptions and the lengths to which some individuals will go for online attention. While no injuries were reported, the incident left staff with an unwelcome cleanup duty and shoppers with a story they won't soon forget.
