People keen on adopting Przewalski Horse
Today the People's Daily Online in China reports that—
The Xinjiang Wild Animal Protection Association and Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Research Center launched a campaign for the adoption of Przewalski Horse, which marks the first of its kind in Xinjiang.
The Przewalski Horse, is even rarer than the giant panda. According to the article, the little horse "has become the subject of love and research for people inside the circle both at home and abroad. It is also liked more and more by the general public."
What the article doesn't say is that the Przewalski Horse has a stubborn temperament and cannot be trained for riding.
This sounds like a curmudgeonly pensioner pony I know who is at this very moment lolling in my barn eating a mountain of expensive hay. While he is, in my honest opinion, cuter than any giant panda, especially with that shaggy winter polka-dotted coat—at 25, Thor's only career aspiration now seems to be complete orneriness.
Last weekend I decided he needed some exercise and was ponying him down the trail from my little appaloosa mare. Now, as a backcountry rider, I've had pretty good luck teaching my horses to pony. And Thor knows exactly what to do. Mind you, this fellow's not just smart, he's a pony genius with years of experience to boot.
As my mare was trotting blissfully along and I was just enjoying the scenery, he planted his tiny hooves in the dirt and stopped dead in his tracks. An anchor with fur.
I don't believe I've ever fallen off backwards over a horse's tail before, not even during vaulting practice, and it's not an experience I'd care to repeat.
Cute-as-a-panda or not, all that glitters is not gold, as that cowboy song twangs on and on. If I win the lottery, I will not be cloning this old boy for posterity.
I wonder if I could talk the People into adopting him?
Sources:
People's Daily Online
Flickr Photo Sources: finlayerdridge; tarja
