A video of a horse “driving a car” has taken the internet by storm.
The 1975 video clip shows palomino gelding, Butterscotch, performing his special trick beside trainer, Ham Morris.
The footage was recorded in Louisville, Oldham County, Kentucky, and has been watched thousands of times.
It was recently rediscovered when it was posted online last month (26 December, 2015) by foxsports.com and is proving to be a big hit.
Butterscotch walks onto an adapted Lincoln Continental car from the rear of the vehicle.
Mr Morris then fastens a breaching strap behind Butterscotch’s hindquarters and closes the car’s ramp using a crank lever.
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Following verbal cues from Mr Morris, Butterscotch then starts the car and puts it into gear using his muzzle.
He then places his hooves on enlarged pedals within the vehicle and slowly drives down the road.
Butterscotch sounds the horns and turns the steering wheel from time to time, also with the use of his muzzle, following Mr Morris’ commands.
“It was said a horse could not be trained to drive an automobile. That was many years ago,” said Mr Morris on the video clip. “But this is the second horse that I’ve trained to drive.”
It took Mr Morris a year and a half to teach Butterscotch to “drive”.
“You have to go through your brain and into the animal brain. In other words, he functions through my brain,” he added.
“You have to know when to quit and not to tire the horse out”.
A video clip showcasing Butterscotch’s unusual talents also appeared on Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorsport Mayhem in 1995.
