Off-the-Track Thoroughbred Dubbed ‘World’s Smartest Horse’

For 37 years Karen Murdock has dedicated her life to horses, doing everything from dressage and barrel racing to jumping and trail riding. But in all her experiences she has never encountered a horse quite like Lukas. Starting out as a downtrodden "racetrack reject," Lukas is now known to many as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet because of Murdock's

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For 37 years Karen Murdock has dedicated her life to horses, doing everything from dressage and barrel racing to jumping and trail riding. But in all her experiences she has never encountered a horse quite like Lukas. Starting out as a downtrodden "racetrack reject," Lukas is now known to many as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet because of Murdock's soft-spoken training techniques.

Registered by The Jockey Club under the name Just Ask Mike, Lukas was not cut out for the racetrack, as his former connections quickly learned following his three back-of-the-pack finishes. Murdock caught her first glimpse of the chestnut son of Crystal Water in a local horse trader magazine advertisement. Listed for $2,000, he was described as a "10-year-old green project horse."

"He was just what I was looking for," said Murdock, who boards Lukas at a ranch near Walnut, Calif. "For me the fun is in the training and seeing the changes in them."

Murdock decided to put Lukas into dressage competition training, with the intent of showing him at local events. But the gelding suddenly became extremely resistant and displayed dangerous behavior. Murdock discontinued the program, but it seemed the damage had already been done

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Written by:

Esther Marr is a staff writer for The Blood-Horse magazine.

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