How're Ya Horsebox - The World's Greatest In Car Game

How it all began...Patsy Healy - inventor, genius, funnyman, horsebox enthusiast

A trip to Waterford to play a hockey match introduced me to the game of How're Ya Horsebox, the world's greatest in car game. Forget your yellow reg's, forget your red car/blue car, forget corners...this is where it is at.

It was a cold, crisp, sunny November morning. Patsy felt good. He hadn't wanted to go on the lash the night before, he had just stopped in for a quart on his way home and he left it at that.

I was summonsed from the box room around 8.30...'dude we're going to be late, have you seen my socks and my stick? We have to pick up Marcus too'. Christ.

After a short argument regarding who owned the white socks on the table, in which I took victory, we eventually found ourselves on the road to Waterford, Marcus in the back, iPOD on, tuned out.

All was quiet, when Patsy roars out ''HOW'RE YA HORSEBOX'' pointing at a horsebox travelling towards Cork on the opposite side of the road. ''One nil, I'm up, yes boy'. With the minor heart attack I had, the popcorn I was eating went everywhere. 'Dude, mind the f**kin' car'.

Several miles later the score was 3 to Patsy, 1 to Marcus and I had amassed -4 points.

The rules were simple, see a horsebox and call 'how're ya horsebox', gain a point. If its not a horsebox and you call it, -1. Horse trucks don't count. Cattle trailors don't count. Someone must verify the horsebox sighting. You only play in car, when you stop at the shop for a Lucozade sport and a banana (or in my case tea and a dairy milk) the game is suspended. You are always playing when in the car, it does not need to be said that you are actually playing the game, you are always 'on'. Fantasy calling of 'How're ya Horsebox' results in -1 point. Brilliant.

Patsy has dubbed the Curragh in Kildare ''Score City'' as the first ever game was played on the road from Cork to Dublin when patsy was working there.

And that's how it all started...stay tuned for the official HB rules and some stories about Johnny.