Uncommon Knowledge: Can peanut butter really make horses “talk”?
Written by nathan // March 18, 2013 // Uncommon Knowledge // No comments
Though it can be assumed that horses certainly like peanut butter, don’t expect your steed to state his preference for smooth or chunky any time soon. Despite an incredibly sticky rumor, everyone’s favorite “talking” horse, Mr. Ed, learned to speak not because he was fed the stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth food, but through good, old-fashioned training. The PB rumor was perpetuated by Wilbur himself, Alan Young, who feared that children wouldn’t find Mr. Ed’s real, animal actor training as charming as the idea of sharing their favorite snack with him. Though at first his handlers would jiggle his lips with a piece of thread, Mr. Ed (being the professional pony he was) soon learned to move his lips independently at the touch of his hoof, and eventually, whenever his human co-actors stopped talking!
