Equine owners nine years and older may vote in the March 15 Horse Promotion Referendum. Owners of horses, ponies, mules, donkeys or hinnies will get to decide if they want to continue paying an assessment on horse feed that is estimated on average to be close to $2 a year. Proceeds would go to the NC Horse Council. Betraying a lack of character on my part, I had a hard time keeping a straight face reading how the proceeds would be used. See, for examples, this and that.