FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Growing up in Brooklyn, Joe Paterno had little exposure to the more rural aspects of life. He doesn't golf, is bored by fishing and hates mowing the lawn -- running out of the tunnel and onto the Beaver Stadium turf seems to be the extent of his communing with nature.

Whether or not his upbringing is to blame for his blatant distaste for horses is unknown, but this objection of Paterno's came to light yesterday when discussing Florida State mascot Chief Osceola's trusty steed Renegade.

“Oh that damn horse, is he going to be down there on the field?” Paterno asked the collected reporters. “Is he going to be down there on the field? I'm going to make [Florida State coach] Bobby [Bowden] ride him. Or at least clean up his dirt”.

The Orange Bowl representatives on hand never clarified whether or not horse and rider would be allowed on the field come Jan. 3, but the roots of Paterno's equestrian aversion go even deeper than the heated war on manure waged by two of the most respected coaches in college football history.

It all started in the early years of Paterno's tenure at Penn State, when half a horse first caught his ire.

“Army used to have a mule alright? And that darn mule would come up and down the sideline and, you know, they're not house trained and neither are horses. And I stepped in something the mule dropped,” Paterno said. “I told the president that we're not going to let that mule on the field anymore.”

What it actually was that “Trotter” dropped -- keys, wallet, handkerchief? -- was never revealed.

Thought “Trotter” was not capable of having offspring of his own for obvious reasons, the bespectacled coach has harbored a grudge against equines ever since. This came to a head when he first encountered Renegade just moments before facing Florida State in the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl.

Despite the fact that it was a bowl game played at a neutral site, coincidentally Miami, Florida State brought Chief Osceola and Renegade down from Tallahassee. Bowden admitted that Paterno may never have been notified that this would be happening.

“I don't know if know if he and I ever talked about that,” Bowden said. “But I thought he was going to tackle the daggumme horse. I was going to tell him go high on him. Don't go low.”

It is unlikely, though, that a 5-foot-something Italian, even one from Brooklyn, would concern a mount who carries an Indian chief wielding a flaming spear. Renegade could not be reached for comment on the situation, but Bowden admits fearing for his physical safety while Paterno ranted and raved.

“That's about the maddest I've seen Joe,” Bowden said. “I was afraid if I said something he was going to slap me.”

Paterno justified his fury.

“I mean, that horse came running out of there, raahhhrrr, raahhhrrr, rahrr,” Paterno said. “We are ready to play a big game and some horse comes out there, foommff foommff. I didn't like that.”

Whether or not Renegade dares show his face before the beginning of next week's Orange Bowl is unknown, but if he does, prepare to see the most violent action of the day before the game even kicks off.