It seems the horse’s owner, identified only as Wolfgang H., had too much to drink the night before and decided to sleep it off inside the bank’s heated foyer, police said.

The 40-year-old machinist told the Bild newspaper he had had “a few beers” with a friend in Wiesenburg, southwest of Berlin, and decided to hit the hay in the bank on his way home.

“It was late, it was already dark and cold,” he was quoted as saying.

Confronted with the lack of a hitching-post, he brought the six-year-old horse, named Sammy, in with him.

When a customer came across the horse and sleeping rider in the bank at 4:15am local time, he called police, who came and awoke the owner and sent him on his way.

No charges were filed, but a clean-up might be needed. Apparently Sammy made his own after-hours deposit on the carpet.