Horsetalk reports that former racehorse Lukas has failed miserably at being ridden but has learned all sorts of other tricks on his way to becoming the world's brainiest equine. But if he doesn't learn Latin, he's never going to impress the intelligentsia.
Lukas, now 17, is living proof that horses can have a life beyond the racetrack, even if it means following more cerebral pursuits.
To date, his repertoire includes smiling, posing, nodding yes and shaking his head no, a dry and wet kiss, fetching, being "blindfolded", catching, yawning, saluting, pedestal work, a Spanish Walk (forward and backward), the stay and come, jambet (a three-legged pivot), curtsy, passage, bow, crossing his front legs, laying down while Karen sits on him, feet together (front and back), hide and seek (with his beloved green towel), acting lame, pushing a cart, and the rear.
Most of his acclaim, however, comes from his spelling, counting, identifying shapes and discriminating colours.
He did all of that just to get out of being ridden? I once got a pretty nice free horse who just planted his feet and refused to go forward, sometimes he would rear a bit just to mix it up. The girl charged with him would dismount and put him back in the field. He thought he was the smartest horse in the world. It took all of about two hours to break that habit. As I told him at the time, "I've got all day. All effin' day."
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