Topic
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
The ancestor of modern horses, donkeys & mules came from an ecosystem (the ''Fertile Crescent ine Middle East) that lacked large predators, & thus were much more docile by nature than their African kin. Humans were able to tame & domesticate them.
Zebras, evolving among lions, crocodylians etc, have become nervous & flighty - as well as a viscousness that no one has been able to tame. This as well as other questions of domesticable/tame animals is greatly layed out in both the DVD & book of ''Guns, Germs & Steel''.
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
zebras are too wild and stubborn to train
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
Attempts have been made to train zebras for both riding & draft use, both for novelty value & due to their better resistance than horses to diseases in Africa. Although easily broken for both uses, they r highly strung & zebra-mules or zebroids (crosses between any species of zebra & a horse, pony, donkey or ass) r preferred over pure-bred zebras.
In England, Lord Rothschild frequently used zebras for drawing carriages. In 1907, Rosendo Ribeiro, the first doctor in Nairobi, Kenya, used a riding zebra for doing house-calls. Captain Horace Hayes, in ''Points of the Horse'' (circa 1899) compared the use of different zebra species.
Hayes saddled & bridled a Mountain Zebra in less than one hour, but was unable to give it a ''mouth'' during the two days it was in his possession. He noted that the zebra is neck was so stiff & strong that he was unable to bend it in any direction. Although he taught it to do what he wanted in a circus ring, when he took it outdoors he was unable to control it. He found the Burchell is Zebra easy to break in & considered it ideal for domestication as it was also immune to the tsetse fly bite. He considered the quagga well-suited to domestication due to being stronger, more docile & more horse-like than other zebras.
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
zebras can not be tamed.
Why aren't zebras ridden or used for work like horses, donkeys or mules
My understanding from years back is that Zebra are almost impossible to train. I have seen some ridden by theatrical people in film but never in real life. My guess would be that training takes such expertese and talent there are not enough out there to train large numbers of the animals for useful purposes. Sort of like lion taming, it can be done but never turn your back on the lion. Zebra are just too wild.