• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

World News Center

Everything you want to know about anything that's meaningful

  • News
  • Reviews
  • About
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / She’s Not Horsing Around

She’s Not Horsing Around

April 7, 2011 by

With a cloud of dust and a hearty HI HO LUNA AWAYYYY!
With a cloud of dust and a hearty HI HO LUNA AWAYYYY!
Do you remember when you were a kid? You wanted that custom Hello Kitty Ferrari, or something else just as super cool that your parents denied you, threatening to send you into years of therapy. Sure, now, your therapist can look back and laugh, but back then it was the MOST IMPORTANT thing in your little world. Yet, no matter how much you stomped your feet (like that ever worked before) or waved your tiny fists in rage, your driveway remained stubbornly Ferrari free. Often time the stuff kids want is the stuff they need the least. But trying to explain that to them is akin to teaching your cat to speak German. You’re doomed before you start. That doesn’t mean you won’t try anyway, just that your success rate is going to be maddeningly low. It doesn’t take a parent too long to understand why the Bible, in Exodus: 21, advocated selling your children into slavery. It sometimes seems like the only logical choice.

But every now and then there’s a child who, when faced with a life made of lemons, decides to make a tasty lemon meringue pie. I use this analogy to allow you to understand that I’m talking about a serious overachiever here.

As Veronika Oleksyn reports, when young Regina Mayer was told she couldn’t have a horse, she went to the barn and made one out of a cow.

When Regina Mayer’s parents dashed her hopes of getting a horse, the resourceful 15-year-old didn’t sit in her room and sulk. Instead, she turned to a cow called Luna to make her riding dreams come true.

Hours of training, and tons of treats, cajoling and caresses later, the results are impressive: not only do the two regularly go on long rides through the southern German countryside, they do jumps over a makeshift hurdle of beer crates and painted logs.

“She thinks she’s a horse,” the golden-haired Mayer joked on a recent sunny afternoon as she sat atop the impassive brown-and-white, grass-munching cow.

It all started about two years ago, shortly after Luna was born on the Mayers’ sprawling farm in the hamlet of Laufen, just minutes from the Austrian border.

They started off with walks in the woods during which Luna wore a halter. Then Mayer slowly got her cow more accustomed to human contact and riding equipment.

About six months later, it was time to see how Luna would respond to a rider on her back. Mayer sat in the saddle, and all went as planned – at least at first.

“She was really well behaved and walked normally,” said Mayer, decked out in riding gear. “But after a couple of meters, she wanted me to get off! You could see that she got a bit peeved.”

Luna and Mayer are now soul mates, spending most afternoons together once the teen – who aspires to become a nurse one day – comes home from school.

Their extensive routine involves grooming, petting, jumps and a roughly one-hour ride. That’s also the case in winter, when Mayer lovingly drapes a blanket over Luna to keep her warm.

It’s a lot of work “but I enjoy it,” Mayer said.

Her efforts have paid off.

Now, Luna understands commands such as “go,” `’stand” and “gallop.” If she feels like it, that is.

“When she wants to do something she does it, when she doesn’t, she doesn’t,” said Mayer, who proudly says Luna thinks of her as her mother. “And she’s often very headstrong but can also be really adorable.”

Luna’s stubborn streak meant that teaching her pony tricks wasn’t always easy, Mayer noted, saying she sought tips from a cow expert in Switzerland on how to deal with “steering” problems.

Anne Wiltafsky, who trains cows near the Swiss city of Zurich, said Luna’s talents are not particularly surprising and that, historically, it was quite common to ride cows and use them as workhorses.

“Especially younger ones can jump really well,” Wiltafsky said in a telephone interview, adding that cows are lovable companions because they’re easygoing, have strong nerves and are “unbelievably devoted” to people they like.

Being – and owning – a cow-turned-pony isn’t always easy.

Take the somewhat skeptical neighbors, such as Martin Putzhammer, who had to be won over.

“At first I thought it was kind of weird – a kid on a cow?” the 17-year-old said during a break from repairing his moped. “Had to get used to it but once I did I thought it was pretty funny.”

While Mayer’s friends quickly warmed to her passion after laughing at her, Luna’s fellow cows weren’t so open-minded.

“Cows don’t really like her … they’re jealous because she always gets goodies,” Mayer said.

And horses? Many run away in fright, but others often join Luna on rides.

“She really enjoys that and gets totally into it,” Mayer said.

Mayer hasn’t given up her hopes of having a horse and may soon get one. But she says Luna will always have a special place in her heart.

“She’ll stay my darling,” she said.

A couple of things caught my eye in this article. First, there’s a professional cow trainer in Zurich. I had no idea that there was a need for this profession. I spent many a youthful summer on farms in Wisconsin and never once heard any of my relatives ask to have their cows trained. Milked? Yep. Cleaned and groomed? Of course. Slaughtered for dinner? You betcha. But trained? Not even when beer was involved.

The second thought that crossed my mind is that this kid makes incredibly bizarre substitutions on the fly. I’m not sure that’s a great quality for a nurse.

“Dramamine, Dopamine, what’s the dif?”

I know that I, for one, would care very deeply about that particular ‘dif.’

Oh well, that’s some time off. In the meantime, enjoy some video of Luna the Jumping Cow.

Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG AM 1280, every Thursday morning around 9:10!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Archives

  • March 2023
  • October 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in