Lukas the wonder horse can count to nineteen, fetch and sit like a dog

Owner Karen Murdock adopted the failed racehorse ten years ago, a bag of bones through neglect. 

‘I’ve always loved horse-riding and I wanted to be able to jump and compete at shows,’ she said. 

(Picture: Caters)

‘From the start, I could tell Lukas was intelligent, he worked out that it was much easier to go around the jumps than go over them.’ 

She quickly realised Lukas was more interested in learning than leaping and set about training him how to obey simple commands. 

‘His attention span was amazing and I taught him to come, rear and even sit on command,’ said Mrs Murdock, 54. ‘Then using a method of repetition I began to teach him to tell the difference between different shapes and even numbers.’ 

The 19-year-old chestnut thoroughbred broke the Guinness world record for the amount of numbers correctly identified by a horse – 19. 

Mrs Murdock, who lives with husband Doug, 61, in California, said he and daughter Angela, 37, are supportive of her special relationship with Lukas. ‘I think they love the way we are such close friends,’ she said.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/896699-lukas-the-wonder-horse-can-count-to-nineteen-fetch-and-sit-like-a-dog