A Mule Named Wallace Takes on Dressage and Leaves a Winner
Dressage is like dancing for horses. A rider and horse—or mule in this case—will perform a series of movements while walking, trotting and cantering, that will be scored by judges. The duo with the highest score wins the class.
Image via British Dressage/Twitter
Wallace’s road to dressage fame has not been without its bumps and roadblocks. The Daily Mail explains that Wallace was an abandoned mule that wandered around a village in Ireland, eating the locals’ flowers.
According to the Daily Mail, he was rescued by the Donkey Sanctuary and soon found a foster home in Dursely, Gloucestershire with two donkeys and one other mule. Christie McLean happened to be a friend of the woman who took Wallace in, and a partnership was born.
McLean began working with him and found that he had a great aptitude for dressage. As they trained together, she decided to try him in a competition. However, Wallace was barred from participating in official British Dressage events because he was a mule, not a horse.
This actually led to a massive social media campaign that turned Wallace into a veritable celebrity. And on July 9, McLean announced on Facebook that the campaign was successful, and that Wallace was now officially registered with British Dressage.
On July 11, they competed in a British Dressage Quest Club competition at Summerhouse Equestrian in Gloucestershire against eight other horse and pony competitors. Wallace the Great wowed the judges to take home the coveted red rosette. You can watch their amazing performance on their Facebook page, Wallace the Great- Dressage Mule. Well done, Wallace!
Video via Daily Mail/YouTube
Image via Wallace the Great- Dressage Mule/Facebook
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