11-year-old Hannah Simpson dreamed of horseback riding but she had to forgo her dream after her parents told her it was too expensive to own one. However, the girl realized that she did not have to forgo her dream, she just had to find a new pet that can do all the things that a horse can do.
The teenage girl now regularly rides her 7-year-old cow best friend, Lilac around the farm at the South Island town in Invercargill, New Zealand. Hannah who lives on a dairy farm never came across of riding one of the cows at the farm before she found Lilac. It was not until her brother dared her and Lilac with a challenge that the girl found the cow was special.
In an interview with The Guardian, Hannah said, “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.” When her parents said that she could not have a horse, Hannah turned to Lilac who equally loved jumping as she did.
“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 cowshed 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.” Lilac may be a Swiss Brown cow but she definitely can jump as good as a horse. According to the 18-year-old girl, Lilac can now easily jump up to 5-foot high.
