Which Roman Emperor made his horse a Senator, and declared war on Neptune?

Which Roman Emperor made his horse a Senator, and declared war on Neptune?
This snippet of trivia popped up on DSTV a couple of nights ago.
The answer was given as Emperor Caligula.
I thought this would be a good one to read up on, and went scratching.
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Gemanicus, also known as Caligula.
As a young boy he accompanied his father on military campaigns and wore diminutive soldier’s footwear, hence the name, meaning “little soldiers boot.”
His reign was short, from 37AD to 41 AD. During his first two years he was considered an excellent Emperor, and then after a serious sickness he appeared to become mentally unstable.
Back to the horse and senator part. Nowhere could I find any confirmation that this ‘appointment” took place. At best there are a few references to his desire to do something to this affect.
It appears as though he developed a weird and even bizarre sense of humour after his sickness; there are enough accounts of this. He had an inherent dislike and contempt for the Senators, maintaining they were useless. To belittle them he most probably threatened to appoint his horse to the Senate as the horse would most probably do a better job. This is the explanation that appears the most credible. I scanned through Suetonius’ bibliography of Caligula and could find no reference to the horse.
The same DSTV program maintained that he declared war on Neptune and had his soldiers stab the sea with their swords and spears. Nowhere could I find a reference to this, but given his very strange behaviour, this could most probably be possible. ( He had the heads of the Roman gods removed and replaced with his own likeness.
All said and done, the Senate planned his assassination, and Caligula suffered the same fate as Gaius Julius Caesar
There is a mine of information on the way he mismanaged the empire and his subjects. Lots at Wikipedia if you are interested.
Image from Wikipedia

Interesting Trivia : Statues of Hero on a Horse

Why do some horses have all four legs on the ground, some have one leg in the air and others with both legs in the air?
This explanation from an email I received.

“If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.”

I don’t know whether this is true or not, make your own decision
Image from Wikipedia

Straight from the horse’s mouth: Meaning and origin

Not much debate as to the meaning of this phrase, and two possible origins.
Firstly, the meaning. If a person maintains that his information “is straight from the horse’s mouth,” he is implying that the information is credible, trustworthy and reliable. In other words the truth. In essence this means that the information was obtained first hand, direct from the source or origin.
I could find two possible origins.
The first origin is the more credible of the two. A horse’s age can be easily determined by looking at the teeth. Never tried it myself, but those that know are able to do this. So, if you were buying a horse and you needed to confirm the age, you would open the animal’s mouth, stick your head inside, and check the teeth. Hence, your information would be correct and, straight from the horse’s mouth. Not necessary to rely on a third party opinion.

The second one relates to horse racing, specifically betting on races. If one was looking for a sure bet, you would most probably run into “somebody in the know” who would be able to give you that golden tip. If questioned as to his source, the answer would most probably be “straight from the horse’s mouth”, and no further explanation would be necessary.
As a horse cannot speak, this confuses the situation somewhat. So, my interpretation is that the source is someone as close as possible to the horse, as in a stable employee or jockey, that has inside information not available to others.
Image from Wikipedia