They’re Ponylicious
Toys like the Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me, Elmo are no match for My Little Pony.
•First introduced by toy manufacturer Hasbro in 1982, My Little Pony (MLP) has three generations of fans. The toys were discontinued in the late 1980s because of waning sales, but were reintroduced in 1997 and 2003.
•At the peak of the MLP craze (the mid-1980s), the ponies were more profitable than Barbie.
•Collectors differentiate the generations of MLP as G-1, G-2, and G-3. The first ponies introduced in the G-1 line were Blossom, Blue Bell, Butterscotch, Cotton Candy, Minty, and Snuzzle. These ponies looked the most like real horses—despite the rainbow colors.
•The four most common MLP names: Ember, Cuddles, Sniffles, and Snookums.
•MLP accessories are available to suit many activities. There are bumper cars; wedding veils, engagement rings, and garters; lipstick and hoof polish; boom boxes and Walkmen; rollerskates, tennis rackets, and skis; and tea sets.
•The toys inspired one feature-length animated movie, two television series, and seven straight-to-video movies.
•A stage performance featuring live-action versions of MLPs toured the country between 2006 and 2008. Billed as the “World’s Largest Tea Party,” the show included songs like “Positively Pink” and “Shake Your Cutie” (sung to the tune of “Shake Your Booty”).
•Fans of the ponies can join the MLP Birthday Club. Benefits include an e-mail birthday greeting from the ponies and a newsletter filled with party ideas (“Pin the Tiara on the Pony”) and party recipes (“Sparkleworks Silly-Face Pizza” and “Cotton Candy Funfetti Unicorn Horns”).
•Since 2004, collectors from around the world have gathered to trade ponies at a two-day annual convention called the My Little Pony Fair. Workshops teach fans how to customize and restore ponies . . . like how to “re-hair” manes and tails and how to spot “fakies” (counterfeit MLPs).
Horsey Humor
The good, the bad, and the horsey.
“A horse is dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle.”
—Ian Fleming
“To err is human, to whinny equine.”
—Cheryl Farner, horse trainer
“They used to take your horse, and if they were caught they got hung for it. Now if they take your car and they are caught, it’s a miracle.”
—Will Rogers
“Fight smog, buy a horse.”
—Charlette Moore, writer
“If you’re a cowboy and you’re dragging a guy behind your horse, I bet it would really make you mad if you looked back and the guy was reading a magazine.”
—Jack Handey
“One of the worst things that can happen in life is to win a bet on a horse at an early age.”
—Danny McGoorty, Irish pool player
Canada’s Royal Horsemen
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police force’s Musical Ride is a colorful exhibition of precision horsemanship. And it’s become one of Canada’s most recognizable institutions.
Mounted Is No Misnomer
The Mounties formed in 1874 as Canada’s national police force and were mostly charged with the task of keeping order on the country’s expanding western frontier. Over the years, their role evolved to include protecting national and international dignitaries, enforcing federal laws, and policing rural areas. Today, more than 24,000 Mounties make up the force.
Since the beginning, the Mounties’ work and image have been associated with horses. In fact, until 1966, equitation training was mandatory for all new recruits. Each was assigned a horse and saddle right along with the uniform and handcuffs.
Setting It All to Music
The Mounties’ Musical Ride is a colorful, precision performance of 36 men on horseback. The riders wear traditional Mountie uniforms (red coats and wide-brimmed Stetsons), and they execute a variety of cavalry maneuvers. The techniques date back to the 1700s and the days of Prussia’s Frederick the Great. Later, other European countries adopted them. And since so many of the riders who worked with the original Mounties had roots in Great Britain and had been trained in the British tradition, it was only natural that they’d integrate that training into their group’s displays. At the turn of the 20th century, the Mounties decided to show off their training to the public, and those maneuvers were choreographed to music. The first official public Musical Ride took place in 1901.
The Mounties were excellent horsemen, but adding music did teach them a hard lesson or two along the way. Initially, they experimented with bands on horseback, but as soon as the instruments sounded, the musicians’ horses spooked. At one exhibition at RCMP Headquarters in Regina, Saskatchewan, the horses threw their musical riders and bolted at the first trumpet blare. By the time the Mounties rounded up all the animals, several had run as many as 40 miles. From then on, the band stood apart from the horses—and remained on the ground.
Now That’s Entertainment
The Musical Ride has become a well-known event, both in Canada and abroad, and with the exception of the World War I and World War II years, it has an uninterrupted history.
The first international event was in 1902, when the Musical Ride traveled to England to represent Canada at the coronation of King Edward VII. In 1937, the Musical Ride packed New York’s Madison Square Garden and, two years later, was back in the Big Apple to perform at the World’s Fair. And it’s still going strong—in 2008, the Musical Ride traveled to several American venues, including the Vermont State Fair and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
Getting Ready for the Ride
Thoroughbreds and Hanoverians are the standard breeds used for the Ride. The RCMP has even set up its own inhouse breeding program. The horses selected for the Musical Ride are always black, weigh 1,000 to 1,400 pounds, and stand 16 to 17 hands.
The breeding farm and year-round training facility are just a few miles from Ottawa, Canada’s capital city and the site of RCMP Headquarters. The horses spend three years there before moving to the training stables. Another two and a half years elapse before a horse is ready for the Ride.
During those years, the horses learn everything from traditional commands to the intricate Musical Ride formations. Another important part of the training process involves getting the horses accustomed to performing in front of large crowds. The arenas and stadiums where the riders perform can be loud, chaotic, and distracting for animals who spook easily.
Charge!
The Mounties who participate in the Musical Ride perform several maneuvers during the show, but the two most famous are the Dome and the Charge.
•Dome: The horses form a circle and face the center, while the riders hold their lances up, forming a dome shape in the center of the circle. This formation is so famous that it used to appear on the back of Canada’s $50 bill.
•Charge: The most exciting part of the Musical Ride, this maneuver requires the riders to lower their lances while their horses gallop at full speed.
On the Road
Today, the Musical Ride carries out about 50 performances during its annual summer tour. Riders also perform in parades and other special occasions. Thirty-six horses and horsemen—33 for the Ride and three alternates—travel to events all over the world. Some of these are for charitable causes and raise more than $1 million annually.
Home Again
In prehistoric times, horses roamed across North America, but about 12,000 years ago, the animals went extinct there. Fortunately, about a million years before, many of them had migrated to Asia across the Bering Land Bridge. That kept the species alive, and horses finally returned to North America in the 15th century with European explorers.
The Lucky Horseshoe
Iron has long been thought to possess magical powers, and blacksmiths were often considered sorcerers, partly because of a long-held belief that fire could repel demons. So it’s no wonder the horseshoe became a symbol of good luck.
A Deal with the Devil
The horseshoe legend began with this story: The devil (in disguise) visited St. Dunstan, a 10th-century English blacksmith. Despite the disguise, Dunstan recognized the devil, nailed him to a wall, and began shoeing his cloven hooves until the devil begged for mercy. Dunstan released him only after the devil promised never to enter a home where a horseshoe hung over the door.
Horseshoe Need to Know
•In the United States, the common belief is that a horseshoe should be hung with the points up—to keep the luck from spilling out. But in most of Europe (except parts of Ireland and Britain), people hang their protective horseshoes facing downward—so the luck pours onto the household’s residents and visitors.
•The luckiest horseshoe is one off the hind leg of a large gray mare—unless you consider gray horses to be bad luck.
•Supposedly, horseshoes also have the power to turn away witches, cure hiccups, and protect against the evil eye.
•A circular ring made from an iron horseshoe nail gives the same protection against evil as the horseshoe itself. Ancient cultures like the Chaldeans and Egyptians used similar ring-shaped charms (in the form of a serpent biting its own tail) to symbolize eternity.
More Horse Talk
“Horses make a landscape look beautiful.”
—Alice Walker
“Four things greater than all things are women and horses and power and war.”
—Rudyard Kipling
“There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it’s the risk, the gamble. In any event, it’s a thing I need.”
—William Faulkner
“I can make a general in five minutes, but a good horse is hard to replace.”
—Abraham Lincoln
Rockin’ Horses
We couldn’t pass up a story that combined Genghis Khan, Hannibal’s elephants, the Nazi SS, General Patton, and of course horses. They all come together for the tale of Vienna’s dancing Lipizzan stallions.
Crisscross Breeding
Spain’s Vilano horses were well known for their strength as long ago as the days of Julius Caesar, and the horses carried Hannibal’s warriors across the Alps (alongside those famous elephants). Then someone thought to cross Vilanos with the barb horses (whose ancestors may have carried Genghis Khan and his hordes from Asia). The result was the Andalusian.
In 1580, Charles (Karl), Archduke of Vienna, founded a stud farm at Lipica (also called Lipizza), a village in Slovenia close to the Italian border. There, using the Spanish Andalusians, the archduke created strong, graceful horses that are born dark but whose coats gradually lighten to a brilliant, snowy white—the Lipizzan breed.
At about the same time, Austrian royalty founded the Spanish Riding School in Vienna to teach classical horsemanship. The school used and bred Lipizzans exclusively.
Getting Their Kicks in Battle
By the 1600s, Lipizzans were a must-have for both the European aristocracy and the military. The horses were fast and strong, but it was their ability to leap and kick that made them essential battlefield companions.
Enemy ground troops feared the Lipizzans’ powerful kicks—called “airs above the ground.” These airs included a courbette (where horses reared on their hind legs and jumped) and a croupade (a leap that had the horses tuck their legs in midair). But the capriole was the most dazzling feat: a horse leapt with its forelegs drawn under its chest, and then, in midair, it kicked out violently with its hind legs.
The Performance of Their Lives
Over the next 300 years, the Lipizzans survived some famous assaults on Austria, including attacks by Napoleon’s armies and World War I. It was World War II, though, that nearly defeated them. In 1945, Germany was losing the war, and the Allies were bombing Vienna. Hoping to save his horses, Colonel Alois Podhajsky, the director of the Spanish Riding School, relocated all of the stallions to St. Martin in upper Austria, 200 miles away. There, Podhajsky had the horses put on a performance for U.S. general George Patton, a horse lover and equestrian. (Patton even competed in the equestrian event in the 1912 Olympics.) Podhajsky asked Patton to make the stallions protected wards of the U.S. Army, and he eventually agreed.
Operation Cowboy
The mares, though, were still in danger. The Nazis had taken control of the Lipizzan mares and foals and moved them to a stud farm in Hostau, Czechoslovakia. An American soldier, Colonel Charles H. Reed of the Second Cavalry Brigade, was looking for Allied prisoners held at Hostau when he learned of the horses’ whereabouts. (The information came from a captured German general who worried that the Soviet troops might destroy the Lipizzans or ship them to the Soviet Union.) Thus began “Operation Cowboy,” the American army’s effort to save the Lipizzans and liberate Hostau.
On April 28, 1945, the Americans entered the town, and according to Reed, it was a “fiesta,” rather than a battle. Allied prisoners lined the streets, and surrendering German troops welcomed the American soldiers with salutes and an honor guard. As for the horses, 375 Lipizzans were rescued—as well as 100 Arabians, 200 Thoroughbreds, and 600 Russian horses. The U.S. Army protected all of them when Nazi troops attacked Hostau one last time. But by May 7, the war in Europe was over, and arrangements were made to return the Lipizzans to the Republic of Austria.
A Tall Tail?
Over the years, General Patton got credit for rescuing the Lipizzans. A 1963 Disney movie called Miracle of the White Stallions emphasized the St. Martin performance, and according to Col. Reed, Patton ordered the rescue of the mares in Czechoslovakia himself. But Patton maintained that he had little to do with the horses’ rescue and even thought the display at St. Martin was odd. In his autobiography, Patton wrote,
It struck me as rather strange that, in the midst of a world at war, some 20 young and middle-aged men in great physical condition . . . had spent their entire time teaching a group of horses to wiggle their butts and raise their feet . . . Much as I like horses, this seemed to me wasted energy.
No matter how it happened, though, it’s thanks to the U.S. Second Cavalry that one of the best-known European horse breeds still performs at Austria’s Spanish Riding School.
Fast Lipizzan Facts
•The Lipizzan is a long-lived horse—30 to 35 years is its average life span.
•Lipizzans are usually born black and, over a period of 6 to 10 years, slowly go gray until they turn pure white. Occasionally, Lipizzan foals are born white, but that doesn’t happen often. (In the days of the Hapsburg dynasty, the white colts pulled royal vehicles.)
•Lipizzans are a rare breed. Today, there are only about 3,000 registered worldwide.
Horse Sense
Think you know everything there is to know about horses in entertainment and literature? Don’t let our quiz throw you.
1. This famous literary horse, who appears in his own 1871 fictional equine autobiography, was based on the author’s brother’s horse, Bessie.
2. Mary O’Hara’s 1941 children’s novel about this beloved horse was made into a popular 1950s television show and more recently adapted into a 2006 movie starring country singer Tim McGraw. (The horse’s name means “little girl” in Swedish.)
3. This palomino stallion began his film career by starring with Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood and Bob Hope in Son of Paleface. He later found fame on the small screen.
4. This pale quarter horse starred in Westerns alongside his human sidekick, Dale Evans.
5. Elizabeth Taylor starred in 1945’s National Velvet, the story of a little girl who wins this horse in a lottery and trains him for England’s Grand National steeplechase.
6. This championship racehorse—a descendant of Man o’ War—had some unusual friends at his barn: an older horse named Pumpkin, a dog named Pocatell, and a spider monkey named Jo-Jo all lived in his stall.
7. Radar O’Reilly gave this horse to his commanding officer, Colonel Potter, on the TV series M*A*S*H.
8. A 1947 novel tells the story of this real
pony who was also immortalized when she put her hoofprints in the cement outside a local theater.
9. Walter Farley was just 26 in 1941 when he published his first book about this majestic horse who is stranded on a deserted island.
10. The Cisco Kid, focus of the 1950s television show of the same name, was based on a 1907 O. Henry story called “The Cabellero’s Way.” Played by actor Duncan Renaldo, the television Cisco wore a large sombrero, embroidered shirts, and silver spurs, and sat in the saddle of this black-and-white pinto.
11. Quintessential Western hero John Wayne starred with dozens of horses throughout his career, but his favorite was this chestnut stunt horse, his equine costar in the film True Grit.
For answers, turn to page 224.
Horsing Around the World
Horse museums around the globe cater to equine enthusiasts. Here are five of the best.
The Living Horse Museum (France)
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Horse Lover's Companion Page 12
