Riding Zebras?!

My family went on a vacation last weekend and were driving through a very small town. We passed a little stable with an outside arena. There were some kids riding around and one of them was riding a Zebra! I have never seen anyone riding a Zebra before and I never though it was really safe. I saw the move Racing Stripes a few years ago and I thought it was silly. I mean, they are wild animals!!!

So I was wondering what everyone else thought about riding Zebras?

I have heard that they can be mean as hell and I know the zorses are not usually very nice. It's possible to do I also suffered through the movie Racing Stripes and it was a sure enough zebra. Also in Swiss Family Robinson one of teh characters rides a zebra.

Zebras are notorious for aggressive behavior--they are wild animals that don't have the centuries of domestication that horses have. I would stay far, far away from personal interactions with a zebra unless it was through a fence. One zebra that seems to have great socalization traits is NOT an indicator of the whole species. It's like raccoons--some people have them for pets, but once the raccoon feels trapped or in a bad situation it reverts to its feral roots and may take your face off. It is not domesticated and does not understand human interactions as such.

Yeah, I could imagine them being mean and they are so small, only a child should ride them. I would not want a child on such an unpredictable animal, it just doesn't make sense to me.

The size would depend on the type of zebra. There are several types and some are quite large. If you just drove past and saw it I would say that it was more likely a white pony with black stripes painted on it.

Oh, I diddn't know they were different sizes.

No, the arena was right next to the road and I could tell it was a Zebra and not a pony. It moved a little differently (it was more stiff and choppy) and it had the standing up mane. I wasn't paying attention at first, but the black and white really caught my attention lol.

I sincerely hope they don't eventually regret putting their kids around that zebra.

Me, too!

CheyAut has a zebra (or is their's a zorse?) - rather is in partnership on one I believe --- you should get with her and talk about them, I'm sure she'd be full of information.

Your post made me think back - we once painted a white mare of our's up as a zebra for a parade. The coloring lasted a couple of weeks and we'd see people going by on our road slam on their brakes and sit down there when they would notice her out in the pasture.