Like anyone with a computer or smartphone, I occasionally enjoy watching humorous videos on the Internet.
Recently, one particular video caught my attention: “Girl trains cow to ride like a horse.” I, and several hundred thousand others, had to watch it.
Sure enough, there before my very eyes, was a teenage girl in New Zealand who was riding what appeared to be a Brown Swiss dairy cow, through the fields as if it were a horse. Not only was she riding it, but she had trained it to jump over obstacles as she maneuvered the cow through her paces with nothing more than a couple of reins attached to a regular cow halter. I was impressed and had to know more, so I found an accompanying written story about the young lady and her cow.
Evidently, the girl had grown up on a dairy farm and had always wanted a horse to ride, but her father was adamant that a horse had no place on their farm. The loving father was sympathetic, but firm, in explaining that a horse was expensive to purchase, would eat a lot of the feed needed by the cows and would, most likely, aggravate the animals that were the sole source of their livelihood.
That reasoning and wording seemed all too familiar to what my Dad had told me many years ago.
Like most teenagers, the young lady was so headstrong in her desire to ride, a few days later she hopped up on one of the replacement heifers they were raising and, to her surprise, the heifer had no objections. The cow now allows the girl to ride her anytime she wishes, with only a makeshift bridle and no saddle.
Over the years (the cow is now about 5 years old) the girl and the cow have created a bond that has surprised everyone. Together, they jump logs, streams, and any other barriers that would commonly be found in an Olympic equestrian event.
After watching the video a few times, I was so impressed with the skill exhibited by the duo that I called for my wife to come into the room to view the cowhorse (or is it horsecow?). After viewing the clip, in amazement, she said, “Wow, she has this cow so well trained, it makes you wonder what she could have accomplished with a horse.”
While that wasn’t my first thought, it’s obvious to anyone that watches the video that the girl is talented and skilled in working with animals; I just wonder what we’d be watching if her father had been a hog farmer.
