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Lion riding a horse

13K views 57 replies 26 participants last post by  Wild Child 
#1 ·
I saw this when I googled

Personally, I don't really see why so man get upset by it. The horse doesn't seem scared, or look like he's breaking his back by the weight.I rather find the act rather sweet and amazing; how it's possible to get two natural enemies to work together.
So the act in itself seem ok for me.. especially if the horse had been a little bigger and more muscular.

But there might be other things that makes it cruel; how is it trained? With patience and calm, or with whips and straps?
Has the lion had it's teeth and claws removed? How nice is that? (claws cut is one thing.. but pulled out? And teeth?)
How about the safety? Are they sure the lion won't attack (if it had teeth left)?
How long time anf how often does the horse carry that weight? Is it trained to be srong enough for it?

And the horse could need more food and more muscle, and there are certainly more things that's not alright.

But what do you think? Is it animal cruelty just to have a lion riding a horse like this? In that case; why?
 
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#2 ·
The act itself wouldn't be so bad depending on the training techniques as you mentioned but I highly doubt after reading that article that these animals are being cared for in a suitable fashion. They state that animals are kept in solitary confinement in small cages. Also that horse being made to move with a huge weight on his back on that hard surface :(

I also don't think feeding live animals as a show for spectators is appropriate. I know there is a food chain out in the wild but for human entertainment purposes, kinda makes me sick.
 
#3 ·
I'm not so sure that I'm a fan.. the horse doesn't look completely TERRIFIED so to say but it doesn't look happy. I don't like the idea of that heavy of an animal jumping on the horses back.. Cool to see they get along and all but it doesn't impress me that much.
 
#4 ·
:evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:I dont agree with this at all. Look at how much weight they are making that horse carry. That lion is nearly as big as the horse.




If you look in his eyes, you can't tell me that horse is not scared.



Me personally, i think that this is disgusting and should never be allowed. but that is just me.
 
#6 ·
:shock: I thought I had read the title wrong when I first clicked on the thread. I have to say, I dont agree with that one bit. It looks to me like the horse is terrified. Some humans just dont deserve animals. But that is just my opinion.

Have people been paying to watch this kind of show? I suppose that is a silly question really. Sorry. There must be some kind of market or attraction to it or the man wouldn't of thought of such a unusual thing/trick in the first place.
 
#43 ·
Start doing some research on China (and other Asian countries) and animal abuse. You will find unimaginable horrors. There is one video (google China fur farms) and the last frame is a little animal called a racoon dog, lifting its little head and looking at the camera, after it has been skinned ALIVE. Cats are thrown into cauldrons of boiling water while alive, dogs are hung from nooses and then beaten as they slowly strangle before being cooked. Korea is known for horse fighting where two stallions are beaten and abused and then when frenzied, thrown into a corral together, where there is also a mare in heat. With no way for the weaker to run, they continue fighting until one goes down. The victor gets to breed the poor mare who is tied in the middle of the arena. Then the next pair of stallions are brought in and the scene is repeated. People are worse than animals and will pay to see any kind of brutality!
 
#7 ·
The weight of an average african lion is 300 to 500 lbs.; the average weight of a medium/large pony is 200 to 500.

So that lion shouldn't be riding that pony. If is was a smaller lion or a bigger horse it probably wouldn't at least look so bad weight wise. It's like a circus act side show a way to draw in people.

I don't agree with it, but for some people that's their sort of thing.
 
#11 ·
I am not going to lie, that picture SHOCKED and HORRIFIED me. That is terrible. There is no reason in the world that people should even do this. For a good show?? That horse is scared to death and I agree, the lion weighs almost as much as the horse.

Unjustly cruel. :evil::evil::evil::evil:
 
#12 ·
I'm glad this came to a discussion :) I've read all answers and it has been interesting.

I can't agree that the horse is overly scared, it looks fine to me.
I feel that the scared feeling some people talk about is more because humans think horses must be scared of lions. But if my cat and my previous rats could willingly sleep together, I don't see why a horse can't accept a lion on it's back without fear.
And I still don't see anything wrong with just having a lion ride a horse.
BUT I do see lots of problems with THAT lion riding THAT horse in THAT environment, and lots of things around it, like training, size, ground etc etc
There's no reason in the world that humans should ride either, except our high pleasure, so circus acts that doesn't injure horses or other animals are fine to me. As long as the animals are trained well both physically and mentally for the act, and are treated with respect. Which I have no clue if it's the case here, but the horse doesn't seem big or strong enough. And I do hope that saddle fits well or else that'd probably hurt a lot.

Anyway, I'm glad there were so many opinions about this :)
 
#13 ·
let's look at this from a logical point of view.
they are asking an animal who is by nature a prey animal to be ridden by an animal that would normally kill it.
that's sick and disgusting, and there is no way in the world anyone could tell me that that horse is not terrified out of its mind.
add to the fact that lions weigh in at about 400lbs, and it just doubles the cruelty. Can you imagine how much hurt that horse would be in when the lion had to jump on his back!?
its sick and disjusting.
 
#14 ·
let's look at this from a logical point of view.
they are asking an animal who is by nature a prey animal to be ridden by an animal that would normally kill it.
that's sick and disgusting, and there is no way in the world anyone could tell me that that horse is not terrified out of its mind.
Uhm..you've forgotten that humans normally (naturally) kill horses? They were food long before they were pets.
 
#16 ·
I assume yoy think it's just as bad to have dogs at the stable, and that the horses are absolutely terrified of dogs and can't ever get used to them? Dogs too are predators and naturally attack horses (in pack, but still predators).
Just because humans thinks lions are bigger, more excotic and dangerous than we'd thnk a wolf or dog, doesn't mean the horse thinks of it like that. It's no harder to get the horse used to a lion than to get it used to a dog. It's all about experiences.
Stat calm, let the horse get used to it and make the xperience with the other animal nice, the horse will accept it.

It's incredible what horses can learn to accept without being scared. Shouting crowds, fireworks etc not to mention having a human on it's back and steering.
 
#28 ·
I assume yoy think it's just as bad to have dogs at the stable, and that the horses are absolutely terrified of dogs and can't ever get used to them? Dogs too are predators and naturally attack horses (in pack, but still predators).
I have seen and heard about many horses at my barn and other barns attack, injure, and even kill dogs just because they got too close to a horse. I think horses can be taught to get used to dogs, but I don't think that horses are terrified of them.

Just because humans thinks lions are bigger, more excotic and dangerous than we'd thnk a wolf or dog, doesn't mean the horse thinks of it like that.
Lions eat zebras. Zebras are like horses. Yes, I know, some people eat horses too. But horses AND dogs have been taught for hundreds of years if not a few thousands of years to be comfortable around people.

It's incredible what horses can learn to accept without being scared. Shouting crowds, fireworks etc not to mention having a human on it's back and steering.
Shouting crowds and fireworks aren't nearly as dangerous as a hungry lion on your back. If you could would you run around out there with one on your back? Roaring in your ear, gripping your shoulders with it's claws, being whipped at by the ring leader, and knowing that at any given moment that thing could attack you and more than likely kill you... Yea, I think I'll pass. :???: And besides, like someone else on here once said, I'm pretty much a pez dispenser to my horses. As long as a few yummy treats are involved they really could careless if i decide to go for a ride. =P
 
#20 ·
Ridiculous, Stupid, Unsafe, Abusive, Harrasment.

:evil: That poor horse is terrified. I personally believe that circus acts should be stopped. Look at that horses eyes. I feel just awful looking at that. Ridiculous. Not to mention that lion doesn't weigh 5 pounds, its huge. Wow, so this is what the world is coming to. Not worthy to own a horse if you want to do that. :-x I'm disgusted with this.
 
#22 ·
yeah... tying anything to a horse is bad enough.. and through the nose too..Oo but that horse doesn't look scared either.
 
#23 ·
Are you serious? Cant you see that it IS scared? Honestly...:evil::roll: how can you not see the fear in both the situations? It is so unatural...circus acts and similar ones are just sick and wrong...rediculous
 
#25 · (Edited)
It is real, I've seen it on video in a documentary as well.

Curly_horse_CMT: yeah, I'm serious. I think you people are imagining that fear because you think it's unatural. There is nothing that say a horse must be scared by having large predators aroud them. I can sense some level of being uncomfortable, but not any fear of the lion/bear. They're alreay so used to have those animals there and around them, they're no longer afraid of them. A scared horse wouldn't trot that casually and simply it just doesn't look frightened. On the documentary I saw it was even nuzzeling the lion (through bars) when they lead it past his cage. Their pens/cages were next to each other and the horse didn't mind at all. Didn't see any tension like that when the lion jumped up (on the film) either, other than that the horse threw his head up for a second in the landing, probably due to the weight.

I'm not saying that particular show is good, lots of things in the training methods and keeping of the animals could improve, but the horse was more nervous around the humans than around the lion. So I don't see anything wrong with the circus trick, if they just change to a bigger horse, smaller lion, care better for the animals health and train them differently etc. The thing with a horse carrying predator isn't that bad or weird.
And as I said; humans are predators too, we might not have teeth and fangs, but we have whips and spurs. We smell meat-eater and we move like a predator. Still we can get the horses used to us, so why it should be so bad and impossible to get them used to a lion or a bear, I don't see.

And this about circus acts altogether being bad for the horse just makes me laugh. (some previous comment). Dressage (todays, modern dressage), supposed to be the best and most constructive, sound, strengthening riding... started in a circus. (I guess western being the one most used for real work)
First there were academic dressage, then ''knightly'' games got forbidden on several locations, and english riding came to life; that is: trail riding, hunting, steeplechase and the like. But Baucher started mixing the old academic dressage with the new, free (english) riding. ''The new method'' is the base to what top riders use today. And Baucher got known for his training and riding - when he had become a famous circus artist and showed his horses on the circus. Modern dressage was born. I'm thinking of it because it's not the first time I hear especially dressage riders comment that ''circus tricks'' (mostly the spanish walk, prancing, bowing and the like) shouldn't be performed because it's no real riding and has no purpose. But what is dressage nowadays other than a form of circus? You show how well you and your horse can do different tricks that there is no use for in daily life, riding altogether is pretty useless in most cases, just good for our pleasure. Still that is ok, but circus acts are not? :P
But now I've wandered off the topic.

Well, that's my point of view. And I don't see any fear in the horse. It's perhaps a little stressed due to the crowd and the training it has gotten, but it's not afraid of the lion.
But I see problems with how everything is cared for, and the weight issues.

Then you can think I'm blind or whatever, but I know what a scared horse looks like. If I hadn't known that, I'd never come so far with groundwork wth my own horse, because I wouldn't be able to see when I was stepping on his limits and should stop to keep him from getting scared. I'm not a good rider, but I love to work with horses from the ground, and especially to get them used to ''scary'' things and see them overcome their fears. And I'm good at that.
 
#27 ·
totaly against it . . . i just wanna take the horse and hug him and turn him out in a feild and let him live life like a horse . . . its not right . . . and it should be outlawed . . . its dangerous . . . and stupid . . . and everything in a horses natural instints tells it that when a big predator leaps on to its back . . . is that predator is trying to kill the horse!!! there is no good reason why stupid things like this should amuse people !!!
 
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