Unfortunately, the rumours were unfounded.

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto did not arrive at the polling booth on horseback.

Repeat: He did not ride a horse to cast his vote.

This was despite reports that he was planning to make a grandiose entrance with on his now-famous horse.

Afraid of the media

Instead, as you can see from this video -- taken on April 17, at Prabowo's polling station located in Bojong Koneng, Babakan Madang, Bogor, West Java -- he arrived on foot, and possibly by a motorised vehicle before that.

Capres nomor urut 02 @prabowo saat tiba di lokasi pencoblosan di TPS 041, Kp. Curug 02/09, Desa Bojong Koneng, Kec. Babakan Madang, Kabupaten Bogor. Di sana, Prabowo ditemani Fadli Zon. https://t.co/5Pzf5gXQWk #CNNIndonesia pic.twitter.com/HO2irMOUGZ

— CNN Indonesia (@CNNIndonesia) April 17, 2019

According to CNN Indonesia, Prabowo told reporters that he had decided to leave his horse behind because he was afraid of the media.

“No. I am afraid, there are many reporters,” he said with a laugh

It’s an anti-climatic end to a campaign that quite frankly could have featured more horses.

Last elections

At the last elections, Prabowo’s horse featured quite prominently, with the former army general majestically straddling a brown stallion during a large rally in Jakarta.

This time round, perhaps a more flaccid, softer approach has been applied after Prabowo’s muscular campaign based on a strongman platform failed in 2014.

Instead, current president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo won Indonesia’s vote in 2014 on the back of a "down-to-earth" or "man-of-the-people" style campaign.

See also:

Top image collage from Prabowo Subianto Facebook