# Can Zebras be trained



## Trinity Ridge

i really like the photos of them pulling the carriages and buggies.

thanks for posting.


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## .Delete.

Fascinating! I think it's interesting and says a lot about this method, that they lay the zebra down to "break" it. One could argue this is learned helplessness, where the horse learns to just give up. However it proves just how influential laying down a horse can be.
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## Allison Finch

Yes, they can be trained, but it is NO myth that they are much more difficult to train than domestic animals. Many hybrids are also pictured in those photos you posted.

There are some people, today, training zebras.


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## CandyCanes

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hhlOkEpvFgQ

This is the video of the girl in the top two pictures poste by Allison.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zexious

Yup, they sure can be trained ^^ Allison, isn't that guy's (at least, the first two pictures, I dunno if the third one is the same animal) name Zac? How cute.

I want a zebra xD


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## Chasin Ponies

Well, the Amish say no and that's really something when they give up! I went horse hunting with a client several years ago down to Amish country where they are running "horse mills". Pastures full of ill bred Pintos to sell to the English.
They had a zebra at one place in a pasture and an Amish guy came up to me as I was looking at it and told me that they had tried everything to break it and just couldn't! It wouldn't stop fighting them. So they just decided to leave in in the pasture as a tourist attraction!
I can see by the pictures that it is possible though!


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## anndankev

Subbing just to look at the pics.


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## karliejaye

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing these links. I know of a few modern zebra's and hybrids, but the historical photos and information was particularly fascinating.


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## horseluvr2524

If only, oh if only I had the moo-la. I want!!! :lol: XD

Zebra Baby & Aged Riding Gelding


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## Cherie

We had considered setting up a zebra breeding program about 25 years ago. We looked pretty deeply into it. We found several zebra breeders that all raised their foals on a bottle. 

I met an exotic breeder in Hutchinson Kansas. His name was Hedrick (can't remember his first name). He was the most knowledgeable breeder I met. I stayed there for 2 days. He raised zebras, camels, and many other exotics. He had two strains of zebras, Grant's and Grevy's. He said the Grevy's were endangered and he had special permits to breed them. They were bigger and had huge rounded ears. I really liked them, but it was extremely difficult to legally raise them since they were endangered. They had a lot different stripe pattern. The stripes were very narrow and they had a lot more of them.

The Grant's were smaller and he said were a lot easier to handle. They were not endangered so could be crossed with other equids like horses and burros and could be legally bought and sold. 

He had several semis that traveled around the country and he set up petting zoos at County and State Fairs. They imprinted the foals at birth and bottle raised them after they were 3 days old. 

I learned a lot from him, but decided it was too big an endeavor to get into and waaay too expensive for what they brought when sold. Zebra mares carry foals over a year and only produced 2 foals every 3 years -- at best. Some mares carry a foal 14 months and they do not breed back quickly like horses do. When they took foals from mares to hand raise, some of them bred back more quickly but still no more than 2 foals every 3 years.

Mr. Hedrick was phenomenal. He was a really good trick trainer and had photos of several zebras that he had raised, trained and sold for circus and rodeo acts. 

I just hunted them up and they are still there. They now have a B&B and do tours, etc. I stayed in Hutchinson. Their place was just north of Hutchinson. I knew quite a few Amish near Hutchinson and used to get a lot of horse tack made there. I still get harness leather reins and stock-horse pulling collars from a harness maker there. Anyone interested in zebras can find out more about them there than any place in the US. 

Here is a link to Hedrick's Exotic Farm if anyone is interested. Hedrick's Tours


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## wbwks

Bontrager Harness shop, good but expensive. They also have pretty good auctions weekly for small farm animals and a bigger auction spring and fall for horses and tack. 

5913 E. Greenfield Rd.







Haven, KS 67543 Sam Bontrager







2 Mi. East of Yoder on K-96, ½ North Answering Service: 316-465-2771


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## trailhorserider

wbwks said:


> Bontrager Harness shop, good but expensive. They also have pretty good auctions weekly for small farm animals and a bigger auction spring and fall for horses and tack.
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> 5913 E. Greenfield Rd.
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> Haven, KS 67543 Sam Bontrager
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> 2 Mi. East of Yoder on K-96, ½ North Answering Service: 316-465-2771


How is little Ranger doing? (I'm the gal with the other cannon-bone colt).


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## anndankev

THR, You have a zebra ???


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## trailhorserider

anndankev said:


> THR, You have a zebra ???


Nope.  

I should have just emailed wbwks privately. But I saw her post and just wanted to ask how her Appy colt is doing. Both of our babies have a bit of a cannon bone deformity.


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## Horsebitsgalore

I met a zorse owner once at a stable, and she said her zorse was trained and was rideable. I'm not so sure about zebras though. They are originally wild animals and they can be quite aggressive. I remember being bitten by her zorse once. I think they can be trained in the right hands, but I once heard that a zebra's back is weaker than a horse's and to be careful if you are going to ride it. I'm not 100% sure though.


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## 4HGirl

I know this thread is a couple months old, but I thought I would add to it. If you do a quick Google search, zebras are notorious for being hard to train. They are also very territorial and quite mean. I used to work at my local zoo and we had a small herd of zebras. The keepers wouldn't even go in there with them to feed. They would stick the hay in the feeders and then let them out. Despite having been exposed to humans their entire lives, they were still really wild and protective. The stud in there was pretty mean, but surprisingly, so were the mares. The keepers said they were evil. I'm sure that if you raised them from birth they'd be better, but I'm not sure how much better. The foals get pretty mean pretty quickly. There's a reason Africans did not domesticate zebras. I feel like it would be a lot more trouble than it's worth. I'm guessing their mindset is ore similar to a donkey than a horse, but they have not been domesticated and selectively bred for temperament for thousands of years like horses and donkeys. They make look cool, but based on my experience, I would just stick to domesticated equines. It will save you a lot of time, money, and frustration.


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