Tom is 8 years old and has only one mission in life: to make sure no one puts a saddle on him.
His real name is Jingang and he lives on a farm in South Korea, though the internet eventually dubbed him “Tom” because of his particular talent. Every time someone tries to ride him, the horse puts on an Oscar-worthy performance.
As soon as someone puts a foot in the stirrup, Jingang collapses onto the grass. His breathing seems to grow labored, he rolls his eyes back and even sticks his tongue out, as if the world had ended right there.
And for a while, the performance was apparently so convincing that his own caretakers thought he really had a health problem.
According to his caretakers, episodes of “severe fainting spells” continued for months and eventually led to the horse being taken for a veterinary checkup. However, after examining him, they reportedly didn’t find the illness they expected: Jingang was healthy.
The detail that ultimately gave him away was too convenient. The supposed “episodes” happened precisely when someone tried to ride him and, once the threat disappeared, the horse also seemed to recover. So Jingang learned that collapsing was an excellent way to get the humans to leave him alone.
“Hope the other horses don’t see this—they might learn”