Taming of the shrewd Zebra
Bill Turner, a jockey who has ridden over 600 winning horses has become fed up with his normal equine company and has turned to the slightly more exotic African breed, the Zebra.
Turners mission to tame and break-in his 16 month old zebra, Zebedee, is expected to raise glances from the local horse riders and training community and of course provide an unusual risk for his equine insurance provider.
Turner who bought the zebra as a foal from a breeding project in the Netherlands was fully aware of the animal's difficult and temperamental nature which has prevented the animal, native to Africa from being domesticated by humans.
As the Zebra evolved, a cousin more akin to the donkey than a horse, the creature's skittish nature developed as a mechanism against big game hunters like lions who often picked off zebras for their evening meal .
Plus evolving alongside humans meant they quickly learnt to avoid the two-legged apes. Consequently leaving the animals especially viscous towards humans – more zookeepers receive injuries from zebras than any other zoo animal.
Turner explained that although the first few weeks were difficult to train Zebedee he has ridden him into town and even down the pub much to the surprise of fellow slightly inebriated punters!
Insure My Horse provides horse insurance for equine animals across the country and will be able to offer friendly customer service to provide specialised insurance premiums to horse owners and trainers.
August 03rd 2009