A horse with a passion for heavy metal has captured the hearts of many after her headbanging antics gained media attention in Canada.
Pretty Runaway is a seven-year-old chestnut mare, a quarter horse living on a mostly woman-run farm in Lindsay, Ontario, and she shot to online fame after being featured on The National, CBC’s flagship show, and going viral on TikTok.
Autumn Purdy, the horse's groom, shared the equine's unique taste in music. "We've had a super great reaction to bands like Slipknot, Pantera, and even some Ozzy Osbourne, like super-heavy bass, lots of guitar, lots of rhythm," Purdy told CBC in February. "She will literally headbang to the music. She's on beat almost every time."
To test Pretty Runaway's musical preferences, Purdy conducted a little experiment. "We picked a common modern country song versus a pretty well-known Pantera song and we did a test to see which one she'd like better. We played the country song and she physically turned her butt to me and didn't have a care in the world, ate her hay. We carried on and played some Pantera, she turned right around, instant headbang. We stop the music, she stops. We turn the metal back on, is headbang city."
Interestingly, while Pretty Runaway shows a clear preference for Slipknot, she seems to also like Rammstein, Shinedown, Motörhead, and Drowning Pool.
Purdy also told McClatchy News in a phone interview that, unlike Pretty Runaway, the other horses in the barn don't share her musical enthusiasm.
“The entire barn just looks at her, thinking ‘oh my gosh, she’s doing this again.’ She is the worst neighbor,” Purdy said with a laugh.
Purdy is quick to clarify that Pretty Runaway’s headbanging is a sign of her enjoying herself, not stress. “It takes knowing the horse personally to know the difference between her being stressed and her having a good time,” she emphasized. “She’s genuinely happy, she’s extremely well taken care of, she’s not a stall-bound stress horse.”
