The camel

The camel is often found around ancient ruins in Syria, mostly for the sake of tourists. The locals make a living this way, and the visitors get a memory they won't soon forget. However, note that the 'reins' are held by the handler. If that camel became spooked, he would take off in an unknown direction, and run until he decided he was hungry. They are hard to stop, impossible to train, stupid, and worthy of every name one can think off to pin on them. Yet, to the owner, there is a relationship much like that between horse and cowboy in America's old west. The camel and rider depended upon each other, and respected each other, within the limits of the camel to understand such a simple concept.