It is generally believed that Lee Marvin’s drunken horsemanship (as well as the comic appearance of his horse, which also appeared to be drunk) greatly assisted his winning the 1966 Academy Award for Best Actor. In case you are considering riding your own horse or mule while in a state similar to Marvin’s “Kid Shelleen,” this article may be of interest. While it is undoubtedly unethical to ride a horse while intoxicated (irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous to both the horse and anyone near it), it may not be illegal, because a horse is not a vehicle.
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Ethics Alarms 
This post makes my laugh out loud. My father is a life-long horseback riding enthusiast, and because of it I have seen many MANY drunken riders over the years (thankfully, Dad was rarely one of them).
99.9% of injuries to drunken riders occur when they FALL OFF . . . and, y’know, the more drunk you are, the less likely you are to actually get injured.
–Dwayne
In college, the big thing was “BUI”. Biking Under the Influence. I suppose that was a separate statute because bikes are human powered and not considered (or at least specifically excepted from being) “Vehicles” according to the link.
If there weren’t already statutes for Public Intoxication, I would think we’d have laws declaring Shoes as a device and people would get DUI’s for walking from one bar to the next.
My other gripe about this sort of “ticketing” is that (in my mind…) it can’t have any impact on your driving record. If you were cited a DUI for riding drunk on a horse, it would be ridiculous to have points go against your DMV license. It shouldn’t even be a DMV reportable offense. “Department of Motor Vehicles”. The name suggests what they have responsibility to oversee. Additionally, people aren’t licensed to ride horses, bikes, or non-motorized vehicles, so reporting to the DMV won’t have any effect on their ability to repeat the same behavior.
A non-motor vehicle DUI ought to be much easier to clear up than the real thing, which costs upwards of $30k and a lot more effort.
I was ticketed once for riding a giant tortoise while drunk. I was WELL under the speed limit, so I think that was bullcrap. I made sure he had plenty of lettuce for the journey, too. It’s not like was getting out of the reptile enclosure anyway. The zoo built that thing to keep him in, right?
Those cops in the Galapagos must be pretty tough, Jeff! Of course, if you’d gotten your mount drunk (be he horse, mule or tortoise) they’d have tied to get you hanged. One of the most classic scenes in movie history is that one of Marvin and his horse leaning up against the side of a building, both (as the “uncle” put it) drunk as skunks. My only complaint is that they cast Jane Fonda instead of Ann-Margret!