Zebedee - The Real-Life 'Racing Stripes'

While humans have been able to train different breeds of horses and donkeys for riding, zebras have been almost impossible, thanks to their tendency to view every moving object as predators and panic. However, a former racehorse trainer in Dorset seems to have broken the trend with 14-month old Zebedee.

Bill Turner bought the young horse from a Dutch Game Reserve and brought it to his 300-acre farm near Sherbourne, Dorset just a few weeks ago. For the first two days, he thought the task would be impossible, as the young animal panicked easily.

However, with a little patience and making sure he didn't chastise the animal at all, he soon started making progress. Within two and a half weeks, the zebra had learnt to be calm enough to be ridden to the local Pub, much to the amazement of the locals.

Bill says that though Zebedee is still terrified of horses, he seems to be taking reacting more normally to other moving objects, and likes to be being ridden on quiet country roads. While Bill intends to sell Zebedee in the future, he still has one more challenge he wants to surpass - Teach him to jump!

sources:BBC.co.uk, bournemouth.co.uk, wikipedia.org