Outdoor cats are known to wander, and dogs expected to get loos – but in Frankfurt, Germany’s Fechenheim district they have grown accustomed to a different kind of ‘outdoor pet’ – an Arabian mare named Jenny. The effervescent white horse strolls lazily through the streets each morning, on the same route, with no handler in sight. For the people not familiar with the animal she wears a card that reads: “I’m called Jenny, not a runaway, just taking a walk. Thanks.”Jenny has been taking this walk alone for the past 14-years, because her owner, 79-year-old Werner Weischedel can no longer ride her. Every morning the old man opens his gates and she trods along the paths they used to take together.
Key points
Jenny the Arabian mare has been walking the streets of Frankfurt, Germany alone for the past 14-years
Before Jenny was a solo traveler she was part of a “caravan.” Weischedel told FNP, “We used to have a second mare, Charlie, and a second white shepherd. There we went as a white caravan through Fechenheim. Almost 15 years.” The “we” he refers to is him and his wife Anna. Now their riding group is down to Jenny and their German shepherd Evita, who sometimes joins her for part of her daily jaunts.
Jenny walks her route 8 times a day before returning home for the afternoons for lunch – just like clockwork. Maybe that’s because, according to her owner, she has a “clock in her stomach” and “knows exactly when there is food at home.”Photo by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP ImagesThe locals have come to expect and enjoy seeing Jenny and despite the worries of some pedestrians police spokeswoman Isabell Neumann told German news agency dpa that she presents no danger. Weischedel works with the police to make sure both Jenny and the other citizens are safe he told”Maintower”: “The police know. When someone calls in, the police ask me: ‘Werner, do you know where Jenny is?’ Yes, I say. ‘Ok, then everything is in order.’”Photo by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP ImagesJenny has friends and guardians everywhere, even at the tram station. The driver has become familiar with the mare and welcomes her visits. Some people on social media have criticized Jenny’s freedom, calling it negligence for her safety and the safety of people on the roads and streets. But, her veterinarian Maren Hellige said the mare “seems very relaxed and satisfied.” According to the police, there have been no incidences in all her 14-years of walksPhoto by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images“Jenny nibbles on the fresh shoots of a hedge on her daily walk through the Frankfurt district of Fechenheim.”Photo by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images“Jenny walks alone through the Frankfurt district of Fechenheim and nibbles on a rose.”Photo by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images“The poodle of a walker reacts yelpingly when the Arabian mare “Jenny” meets him on the banks of the Main.”Photo by: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images“Jenny curiously sniffs at the child of Raphael W’llstein, who is on his way to the train, on her daily walk through the Fechenheim district of Frankfurt.”
