A 15-year-old girl denied a horse from her parents has turned to a cow to fulfill her riding dreams.
Hours of training, cajoling and tons of treats have resulted in Luna the cow able to jump over makeshift hurdles of beer crates and painted logs. “She thinks she’s a horse,” said Regina Mayer, from Laufen, southern Germany.
Luna was born about two years on the Mayers’ sprawling farm in Laufen, just minutes from the Austrian border.
They started off with walks in the woods during which Luna wore a halter. Then Regina slowly got her cow more accustomed to human contact and riding equipment.About six months later, it was time to see how Luna would respond to a rider on her back. Mayer sat in the saddle, and all went as planned – at least at first. Luna and Regina now spend most afternoons together once the teen comes home from school. Their extensive routine involves grooming, petting, jumps and a roughly one-hour ride.
Now, Luna understands commands such as “go,” “stand” and “gallop.” If she feels like it, that is.
“When she wants to do something she does it, when she doesn’t, she doesn’t,” said Regina, “And she’s often very headstrong but can also be really adorable.”
Stalin is quoted as saying that imposing Communism on Poland was like trying to saddle a cow, which I take to have meant liable to meet stubborn non-cooperation rather than outright resistance and therefore ultimately be an exercise in futility. Like Stalin however, it seems Regina has been inspired to persevere.
Thelwell would be pleased…
28 Comments
Hey diddle diddle.
and with the name “luna” too.
It’s doesn’t look like a good milker, so it was always going to earn its keep by being ridden anyway.
Love this DEM… Love the first pic at the telo too.
I see a pony in her future very soon. Alternatively, her parents will simply die of shame…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/8429563/Luna-the-showjumping-cow.html
Silly cow. And anyway, horses offend on the first principle of survival: never get on or in anything which has neither brakes nor reverse gear.
Bullock no bollocks.
Punctuate to suit.
Statistically, kvd, your first rule is rather delusional.
Your definition maybe correct, but I would look at the quote slightly differently. To put a saddle on a cow is feasible but its still gonna be a cow, you could ride it … but its still gonna be a cow. Stalin suggestion may have been we could impose communism, but its still gonna be Poland.
Regards, etc.
Patrick I’ll leave you to solve world peace, and religious instruction, and racial vilification, et al – if you will leave me to my simple delusion. Besides, it’s not as if you can’t get a horse with a handbrake or reverse gear; I’ve backed several in the Melbourne Cup over the years.
On the grounds that in the long run nobody survives, presumably?! As exercises in futility go, it seems a pretty useful one…
(I don’t ride either kvd. Horses are lovely animals which I like, but riding them makes me want to scream until my lungs bleed.)
DEM@8 – we are as one! Wonderful creatures best observed from a safe distance, say via TV on Cup Day. As I told my wife many times – if I wished to converse with a huge brutish animate object, I need only ring my son in law.
actually, i was always scared around beef – male or female. Dairy cows, on the other hand… the worst they ever did was make life difficult and mucky when you have a bucket under them. I dunno how a jersey would deal with jumping though.
Horses, on the other hand … i don’t really trust the ones used for jumps and racing – prefer my horses with feathers, and NOT going at top speed – although I’ve never ridden with a saddle so that could explain my nerves.
I followed the link and sent the photo to a few of my older rellies who lived on farms when younger – they loved this story, so big thanks DEM.
Well I ride rarely, but I’ve always loved it. I love driving too, though!
DEM, the statistics is pretty bleeding obvious. How many people die in things with brakes and reverse gear!?
Patrick@11 – the metric is accidents per person per kilometre travelled. Skateboards would look pretty bad if you included broken bones as “accidents”. (Maybe accidents per person per kilometre per “hey guys, watch this” would be a better indicator of intrinsic safety of the transport method, as it’d correct for stupidity).
Well mine was fatalities, hence I said die. I can live with a broken bone.
P@13 as evidence I would give you a list of the most dangerous sports, so that you might appreciate just how dangerous this occasional activity of yours can be. Horse riding is #3, right after lawn bowls and base jumping – neither of which, I would point out, come with brakes or a reverse gear. In fact you have to proceed to #7 motorcycling before there is even a sniff of support for your own position.
This young lass should be put under the care of the relevant government department immediately, and her parents held to account for allowing her such unbridled freedom.
kvd: “unbridled freedom” … Naaa, very much bridled…. You can see the bridle in the photos
I imagine quite a few who realised at that moment they only THOUGHT they had brakes…
Why would motorsports be dangerous? They involve by definition expert drivers in well-maintained vehicles.
Also, you try and find reverse gear on a motorcross bike and let me know how you go.
Patrick@17: “let me know how you go”. I expect the answer you expect is “not backwards, but it does have brakes”.
Anyways, you persist with your delusion, and I mine, but let’s both enjoy the wonder of the fair DEM’s latest post. Isn’t Lego just the most wonderful invention ever!?
Actually bikes have reverse gear in the sense of an application of force in a backwards direction that will overcome forward movement and cause movement backwards…you just need a convenient incline and point up.
Unicycles have reverse but rarely brakes.
Motorsports kills not only participants, but wannabe emulators – in much the same way that superman must have killed or injured lots of little boys trying to fly off roofs with towels around their necks.
Btw: thelwell’s podgy shortlegged equines aren’t that much different in shape from this bovine.
And spectators in the case of rally driving.
It’s quite clear that Australian Rules Football is the most dangerous sport. Consider the last 2 days:
a) A young footballer was left staked to the ground by a bone protruding from his own leg . An injury almost as horrible as the in appropriate use of the term ‘AFL’ in that article.
b) Today during Adelaide vs Fremantle. Aaron Sandilands sits out the end of the game after receiving what the commentator described as a ‘scratched eyeball.’
actually, if AFL is dangerous, then hurley, like afl with giant sticks would have some pretty bad injuries. Great game to watch, (esp if you played hockey and grew up in geelong), using the stick with somebody the other end of the field was fun, but play it?? Nope, never, nada. I think you only get in trouble if you cause multiple skull fractures when the ball isn’t within 50m.
Hurling. A hurley is the stick you use to play Hurling.
Hurling is closer to gaelic football anyway and, although entertaining to watch, not nearly as dangerous as it sounds.
ex-Hurlers on the other hand. Extremely dangerous to teammates.
I am mystified by DB’s suggestion of applying kinetic force to the pedals of a motocross bike. I assure you, they don’t move.
AFL is extremely dangerous, though, I agree. Rugby otoh should be mandatory in all schools.
Masters Golf: Adam Scott 2 up with two to play; Ogilvy, Woods in clubhouse, Jason Day 2 behind, 3 to play. Now I know why golf produces such a number of (spectator) heart attacks
And then there was Charles Schwartzel, who was in the bushes at my last report. Oh well.
Uh Patrick, there is motocross and then there’s motocross. The pedals moving depends on whether you’re a petrol head or a BMX bandit.
Then I guess you have me figured out…
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