Since Regina Mayer's parents couldn't give her a horse, the 15-year-old girl trained their cow Luna to jump and move just like a horse while she rides on her.
After hours of training, and tons of treats, care and cajoling, the cow finally learned to jump. The pair would go on long rides through the southern German countryside and would do jumps over a makeshift hurdles made of beer crates and painted logs.
"It's incredible really, she thinks she's a horse," Mayer said, according to Spiegel Online.
Luna was born on the Mayer's farm in the hamlet of Laufen, close to the Austrian border. Since then, they started walking in the woods and Mayer trained her to get used to human contact and riding equipment.
Six months later, Mayer tried to sat in the saddle on Luna.
"She was really well behaved and walked normally," said Mayer. "But after a couple of meters, she wanted me to get off. You could see that she got a bit peeved."
As Luna got used to Mayer riding her, they now spend most afternoons together where the cow receives extensive care that involves grooming, petting, jumps and a one-hour ride.
Luna also understands commands such as "go", "stand" and "gallop", and heeds when she is on the mood.
"It's a lot of work but I enjoy it", Mayer said, according to Daily Mail. "When she wants to do something, she does it, when she doesn't, she doesn't."
Luna was kind of stubborn and it was a challenge to teach her some pony tricks but the teenager was very persistent and eventually trained the cow.
"And she's often very headstrong but can also be really adorable," Mayer said.
