OKEHAMPTON resident Juanita Casey certainly earned her stripes last week when she appeared on national radio to talk about her unusual claim of having been one of only a few people to have ever ridden a zebra.

Juanita, who lives in the Glen in Okehampton, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 programme ?Questions, Questions? last Thursday afternoon to answer a poser set by a listener - ?Can zebras be tamed and ridden??

The answer was an emphatic ?YES!? but it is far from easy, as Juanita explained. Juanita said zebras are very temperamental animals, who could not be easily tamed. ?They are very difficult to break and they are so nervous,? she said. They are not very comfortable either, they are very like getting on a donkey. You don?t feel particularly safe. You are always expecting something to happen,? she added.

Horse handler Juanita?s unusual riding practices date back around 50 years. Before she moved to Okehampton, she kept and bred around 30 ponies near the New Forest.

Then Juanita hit on the idea of buying zebras, she bought two, one of which was formally a circus animal.

Juanita said despite her best efforts, they were unable to tame the first one. However, she had more success with the second zebra, which she was eventually able to ride.

Juanita said she often used to ride the zebra around the New Forest, much to the amazement of tourists and visitors, who would stop and take in the unusual sight. ?I suppose it is not something you see everyday,? she said.

Another problem with trying to tame zebras besides their temperament was that they had no attention span whatsoever, Juanita said.

Her interest in zebras was such that Juanita has collected a number of old photographs taken around the world showing people riding the animals.

She explained that some Victorian ladies sat side saddle to ride zebras while she had pictures dating from the 1920s and 1930s of zebras being ridden by men and women. Zebras were also a regular feature in American circuses of the time.

The show?s research team got in contact with Juanita after someone tipped them off about her remarkable story, and the programme was broadcast last Thursday, May 13.

So would she fancy getting out her riding gear and saddling up again? Juanita?s attitude to riding zebras has changed over the years. ?No, I think it?s an imposition. I think they should be free,? she said.