Video Of The Week - Friesian Horse Is Stable Lock Opener Extraordinaire

To say that Mariska, a Friesian mare who resides at the Misty Meadows Farm in Midland, Michigan is a smart horse, is an understatement. After all, which animal can figure out how to escape from its stable by deftly open the latch! If that doesn't impress you how about this? After she strolls out, Mariska calmly goes and opens the stable doors of her friends and encourages them to take off too!

And, it gets better - The one door she breezes right past even though it is adjacent to her own stable, is the one where her mother Trienke, who also happens to be the 'boss' mare resides! Mariska's owner, Sandy Donem says that they did not teach the horse to do this - It's a skill she has learnt by practicing really hard.

The smart horse began her quest by first learning how to grab the zipper tabs on her owner's jackets and pulling them up and down. Once she had mastered that, she began drawing out Sandy's hair ties and even grabbing and eating the jingle bells of an antler head band she was once wearing. Then came the opening and closing of paddock doors and finally, the stable lock!

In fact, it has gotten so bad that Sandra and her husband Don have had to install a second lock at the bottom of Mariska's door! We have a feeling that sooner or later, this smart mare is going to figure out how to open that too!

Resources: Telegraph.co.uk,horestalk.co.nz