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Is it possible to ride zebras the way we ride horses?
- MIRIAM Rothschild, in her book about her uncle, Walter Rothschild, describes how, in November 1894, he introduced zebras to his Tring estate and broke them in with difficulty as they objected strongly to harness and bridles. He eventually succeeded in driving a four-in-hand with three zebras and one pony down Piccadilly to Buckingham Palace. In later years a zebra fatally injured a groom.
Valerie Lapthorne, Aylesbury, Bucks.
- SOME years ago I used to stay at the Gwaai River Hotel in Western Zimbabwe. A seemingly tame zebra wandered the grounds. The manageress said it belonged to one of her African workers who regularly rode it like a horse. She showed me a cutting from a Bulawayo newspaper which showed him in action and the caption said that riding a zebra was unheard of. I spend much time bicycling through the African Savannah where the typical village tractor always seems to be out of action awaiting some vital spare. A draught animal would be far more reliable. Villagers tell me that no zebra can be trained to do the job but they never give a reason or any evidence of anyone having tried to use the animal for this purpose.
Brian P Moss, Kingsbury, Warwickshire.
- IN the 1984 movie, Sheena, Tanya Roberts as Queen of the Jungle is shown riding a zebra. This was in fact a horse painted black and white, as the ankles on zebras are too weak to carry a human being and would break. I therefore assume no one does ride them, as it would be nearly as cruel as making someone sit through Sheena.
Bill Reiss, London NW3.
- I WAS told by my father in the 1930s that a Mr Gaulstaun of Calcutta, who was a wealthy businessman and owned a string of racehorses, but unfortunately never won a famous race, once entered a male zebra for the Viceroy's Gold Cup, at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. Of course, he had the zebra dyed black to resemble a horse. The zebra romped home by three necks. Mr Gaultaun's wife received the cup from the Vicereine, amid acclamation. But, sad to say, this being August - the monsoon period - the heavens opened up and the trick was revealed.
E S Arratoon, Tooting, London SW7.
- IN HIS book, The Points Of The Horse (London, 1893), Captain M Horace Hayes records that during one of his horse-breaking performances in South Africa he was able to persuade a young Burchell's zebra (Equus burchelli) to carry a rider on its back after an hour's gentle handling. A year earlier, in Calcutta, he had managed to saddle up an old true, or mountain zebra (Equus hippotigris though Hayes gives it the nomenclature Equus zebra) belonging to a circus, but found it difficult to control: 'The reason being that the zebra's neck was so stiff and strong that I was unable to bend it in any direction [by use of the reins]. I soon taught it to do what I wanted in the circus; but when I rode it outside, it took me wherever it liked.'
Burchell's zebra is taller than the true zebra and has a longer and suppler neck; in addition, its back tendons and suspensory ligaments are stronger, and 'much more like those of a well-bred horse than are those of the mountain zebra'. It was possibly three zebra of the Burchell type that Walter Rothschild used to drive his carriage. The African villagers referred to above may have been referring to the true zebra when said that zebras were intractable. Capt Hayes predicted that the Burchell zebra would one day be domesticated since it bred well in confinement, was easy to train and - unlike the true horse was immune to the bite of the tsetse fly. That his prediction has not come true may be due more to the development of the internal combustion engine than to any deficiencies in the animal itself.
Peter Hazeldine, Todmorden, W Yorks.
- The late Sir Sanderson Temple lived near Lancaster and apparantly owned a zebra crossed with a donkey (a zonkey ?) with which he used to pull a little carriage or buggy around the village of Yealand. I never saw it, but I did meet him once and I read his obituary last year which mentioned this pastime.
Darren, Lancaster
- Yes you can ride Zebras like a horse. I lived near a farm that owned 2 mares and 1 stallion. We not only rode them but he also trained them to drive and high dive into pools.
Barbara, New Gretna NJ USA
- I'm sure you can. I've seen videos on YouTube and heard stories of people riding zebras as if they were horses.
Shannon, Auckland, NZ.
- I am happy to see that for the most part that very few people belabor this poor wild animal to the rigors of horsemanship. They are beautiful special and delicate creatures of this world we live in.
Richard Neva, Norwich, New York USA
