Girl Trains Her Cow To Jump Like A Horse & It's Phenomenal!

What's a budding equestrian to do when she cannot afford a horse? Improvise! That's what 19-year-old Hannah Simpson from Invercargill, New Zealand did when her parents broke the news that she would not be getting a horse for her eleventh birthday. Rather than pouting and pining away for an equine, Hannah made due with what she had - a six-month-old dairy cow named Lilac! Seven years later, the pair are inseparable and Hannah has even taught Lilac to jump!

A post shared by Hannah Simpson (@hanney_simpson) on Jul 3, 2017 at 1:51am PDT

In an interview with The Guardian, Hannah described her first ride atop the Swiss Brown heifer:

“Lilac was only six months then and I was just a midget. It was a dare from my brother to jump on and she seemed OK with it so we kept going. Before then I’d only ridden a pony twice, and a sheep.”

A post shared by Hannah Simpson (@hanney_simpson) on Jun 1, 2017 at 1:13am PDT

Today Hannah and Lilac take scenic daily rides through the outskirts of their lovely South Island town. Recently she decided it was time to take the heifer's training up a notch. She taught Lilac how to jump, and it turns out she's fabulous at it! According to Hannah, she can scale obstacles up to 1.4 metres high - pretty impressive!

A post shared by Hannah Simpson (@hanney_simpson) on Apr 23, 2017 at 1:54am PDT

There's just one small problem: Lilac only performs when the mood strikes her.

“She is a cow and I can’t expect her to ride like a horse. Without a bit of prodding she wouldn’t really do anything, she has a very chilled-out nature.”

A post shared by Hannah Simpson (@hanney_simpson) on Dec 28, 2016 at 1:24am PST

Lilac is not a fan of cantering or going up or down hills, she also tosses Hannah off whenever she doesn't feel like cooperating. But her long-time friend doesn't take it personally, and Lilac does seem to enjoy bush-walks, long river swims and jumping.

“I have always loved jumping, I always wanted to do show-jumping on a horse,” said Hannah. “And Lilac was always jumping out of the cow shed when she was young so I think she likes it, too. We started her off with stepping over logs and it just got bigger and bigger.”