Friday, April 19, 2024

Why doesn't anyone ride zebras?

Profile photo for Alex Cooper

That’s not quite correct. Some people ride zebras.

All images from Rare Historical Photos

Humans have made several attempts to domesticate zebras, with varying levels of success — ranging from ‘not very successful’ to ‘not at all successful’.

We’ve mostly given up, but as recently as 2009 a racehorse trainer was attempting to train a zebra, and managed to ride it to the pub.

 He was planning to teach it to jump, but I’ve not seen any stripy Grand National winners in the intervening years, so I’m going to assume it wasn’t hugely successful either.*

*Had a quick look for ‘man with zebra hoofprint in head gives up on domestication dream’ but I can’t find anything. Maybe Big Zebra is burying the evidence.

Despite looking a little like horses, zebras are more closely related to asses, but they don’t like our asses on them.

Certain docile individuals might be tame enough to ride, but the species as a whole isn’t well-suited to domestication.

Perhaps it’s because they’ve evolved somewhere surrounded by large, dangerous predators, but zebras aren’t known for their calm, relaxed demeanour. The Swahili word for a friendly zebra translates to ‘lunch’.*

*Or not. But ancient humans certainly hunted and ate zebras, so they might be hardwired to see us as predators.

Zebras’ first instinct is to run, but they’re also capable of fighting back, with a powerful kick and a nasty bite. In general, they’re more nervous, flighty, and aggressive than horses.

There was a bit of a zebra-drawn carriage fad in the late 19th century — perhaps because their coats matched the black and white surroundings (colour hadn’t been invented yet in Britain), but most people wisely decided not to get on the back of these edgy equines.

I say Tarquin, have I been at the Laudanum too hard again or do your horses look a bit off? (Image
)

Could we ever domesticate zebras? Possibly — horses were likely less agreeable in the early stages of domestication — but it would be a lot of work, and ultimately pointless when we’ve already got a better alternative.

Footnotes

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