Houdini the horse escapes from Paddock to buy carrots from his elderly friends

It turns out that elephants aren’t the only large animals with exceptional memories. Panda, a Palomino Paint pony, not only has a tendency to escape, but continues to disappear and dash off to reunite with the group of friends it has befriended at a dementia care unit.

If anything, it’s proof that horses, or at least this one, have a great memory. and an abundant appetite for carrots.

During the pandemic, Panda’s mother Maija took him to visit patients at a long-term care facility. The entire dementia unit adores him so much, and they’re sure to feed him tons of carrots. But his new friends must have made a pretty good impression on him. Or, at least they had some super delicious carrots on hand.

Interestingly, horses are extremely sharp and have excellent long-term memories. They can recognize faces, even after long periods of separation, and recognize our emotional cues. They’ll even recognize places they’ve been to, even if they’re pulled over by a car. And, they will become anxious if they are in an area where something traumatic has happened to them in the past.

So it’s no surprise that the seven-year-old panda remembers exactly where his new friends live and figures out how to get there. The escape artist made two unattended trips to get back to them. And his mother had to wrap him up and drive him home again. As you can imagine, after that, the beautiful, silly horse became the talk of the town.

“The first time, he opened his own gate that led into my backyard, down the driveway to the street. He walks the footpath, which is quite polite,” his mother said.

Maija posted a video on her Instagram of her riding a Panda back home from her second escape and her followers were amused. Many commenters even suggested he might be interested in becoming a therapy horse. Everyone was wondering why he wanted to escape, when they suddenly realized. He’s not just pursuing close friendships. Panda is chasing a crispy carrot.

I guess dogs and cats aren’t our only four-legged friends that can be super hungry. Or perhaps he is trying to answer a divine call. Either way, his mischief is quite endearing. Well, if you’re not the one to drag him home.

If you want to stay up-to-date on Panda and see if he gets into any more crap, you can follow him on his and his mom’s Instagram page.

Featured pictures: Instagram