Someone rode a Zebra (I think his name was
Barcode?) at one of the OD rides a few years ago. The owner was kind
enough to write a nice article for the OD Newsletter with tons of info on
training, behavior, and daily life with a Zebra. Does anyone still have
that to share? What I remember; (again its been awhile guys) something to
the effect of having less chromosones than donkeys, thus a bit less intelligent
--he had difficultly retaining information, she said something about having to
ride daily to "remind him".
Hopefully someone will remember more, or have
gotten the chance to send some time with her. I saw her once at a vet
check, thought I was completely dillusional!
One afternoon, when I had nothing else to do (rare in this day
and age, I know) that silly film "Racing Stripes" was on, and I was curious as
to how and whether they really did train a zebra. So I looked it up.
IN fact they trained and rode eight zebras. There were a couple of
problems that were noted. First and foremost, zebras don't run in
straight lines; They zig-zag. You will notice if you are forced to watch
this movie, that in the racing scenes the zebra is always boxed in. Now
I know why.
Also, they have smaller necks than a horse, which is apparently quite
disconcerting to the rider. It may have helped that the female lead,
Hayden Panettiere, had no prior riding experience.
-Paul
On Jul 28, 2006, at 8:20 AM, Dodie Sable wrote:
I'm no expert, but what I do know about Zebras is that their herd
heirarchy is actaully like antelope,
goats,
