Karthi, who learnt how to ride a horse for his 2016 film Kaashmora, recently performed a feat of derring-do in the desert of Dubai. The other day, the actor posted a video on Instagram where he can be seen clad in all black and riding a horse in the desert. He does it like a professional horse rider. "First outing in the desert," he wrote in the caption of the post. To the post, he pinned the song 'FA9LA' from Flipperachi, which recently became popular as Aditya Dhar used it in the scene where Akshaye Khanna's Rehman Dakait shows off his dance moves in Dhurandhar.

In another post, Karthi posted photographs from his adventure, captioned the post, "Realized... I just love being in the wild."

Karthi's act in real life has drawn parallels between it and his Vanthiyathevan character in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan: I.

A couple of years ago, the actor posted on social media, "I have forever been fascinated by horses. While I learnt horse riding for Kaashmora, I lived all that I dreamt of, during the filming of Ponniyin Selvan. Can't describe the exhilaration when you connect with the horse and it breathes and pulsates with you!"

Speaking of Ponniyin Selvan, actor Ravi Mohan (then Jayam Ravi) revealed a few years ago that Karthi helped clear his fear for the act of riding a horse as they practiced for their characters in the Mani Ratnam directorial. Karthi used to take Ravi along with in the morning practice sessions after reassuring him that nothing untoward would happen during the act.

Karthi also rode a horse in his recent film Vaa Vaathiyaar, directed by Nalan Kumarasamy. The actor's upcoming films include Sardar 2, with director PS Mithran and Malavika Mohanan, and Marshal with director Tamizh of Taanakaran fame (and Sirai writer) and co-star Kalyani Priyadarshan.