July 2025

Tornado

admin July 22, 2025

Don Diego Vega, or de la Vega, better known by his nom de guerre, ‘Zorro’, first appeared in the serialised story ‘The Curse of Capistrano’, written by prolific American author Johnston McCulley in 1919. At that stage, the noble, masked vigilante owned a magnificent, jet-black stallion, matching his signature costume, but his horse remained unnamed.

That story was adapted for the 1920 film ‘The Mark of Zorro’, co-written, produced by, and starring Douglas Fairbanks and released by United Artists, the company he had formed with his wife, Mary Pickford, David Griffith and Charlie Chaplin the previous year. The most famous incarnation of Zorro, though, is in the Walt Disney television series ‘Zorro’, which ran for 78 episodes on ABC between October 1957 and July 1959. Starring Guy Williams, real name Armando Catalano, as the master swordsman, horseman and marksman, the series introduces a horse named ‘Tornado’, pronounced, as in Spanish, with the short vowel sound of the letter ‘a’ in the second syllable. The same name has been preserved in many later adaptations of the story.

Aside from his colouration, which befits the dashing, secretive persona of Zorro, himself, not to mention helping the bandit to slip through the fingers of his enemies at night, Tornado is portrayed as loyal, intelligent and intuitive. The Zorro story is set primarily in South California, where he keeps Tornado at his family estate, or hacienda, albeit in a secret cave that is only accessible via a labyrinth of secret passages. Thus, when Diego de la Vega visits Monterey, on the Central Coast of California, as he does in the second season of the Disney television series, logistics dictated that he ride a different, white horse, called Phantom – given to him by a dying soldier – when transforming into his alter ego so far from home.

In the Disney series, Tornado was played by a registered Quarter Horse named Diamond Decorator, a jet-black gelding who began his career as a racehorse, and various doubles with their own strengths. All the horses were trained by Corky Randall, whose father, Glen, trained Roy Rogers’ Trigger.

Topper

admin July 22, 2025

Topper was a pure white Arabian stallion, owned and ridden by American actor William Boyd in most of the films in which he played the character Hopalong Cassidy. Boyd bought the horse as a two-year-old in 1937, shortly after his marriage to actress Grace Bradley, who reputedly chose the name because she was a fan of the comic fantasy fiction novels ‘Topper’ and ‘Topper Takes a Trip’, written by Thorne Smith.

In his early Hopalong Cassidy films, including the original ‘Hop-a-long Cassidy’, released by Paramount Pictures in 1935, Boyd was reliant on rental horses. However, Bradley said later, “He [Boyd] had a horse, but it was not what he wanted…” Indeed, Topper was originally acquired as a stunt double for another horse, King Nappy but, when that horse was injured, he was promoted to a starring role. Topper subsequently starred in the Hopalong Cassidy films produced by Paramount Pictures and United Artists and the television series ‘Hopalong Cassidy’, which ran on NBC from 1949 to 1952. Topper was trained, cared for and transported to public appearances by Mike Nimeth, who also appeared as a (originally uncredited) wrangler in several of the Hopalong Cassidy films.

It would be fair to say that the cinematic version of Hopalong Cassidy was a ‘watered-down’ version of the original character created by Clarence Mulford for serialised stories in dime magazines in 1904. Neverless, the combination of Hopalong Cassidy, who typically dressed completely, or almost completely, in black and Topper, his striking white steed, mde for an iconic pairing. Topper was renowned for this gentleness, obedience and patience, on and off the screen and, with Cassidy living by a strict code of honour, they became an aspirational pairing, too. In fact, they were the first Western stars to be celebrated on lunchboxes and other mass-produced merchandise. Topper died in January 1959 and was buried at the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park in Calabasas, California. Coincidentally, his former handler Mike Nimeth died from a heart attack three weeks later, prompting Boyd to retire the Hopalong Cassidy character. Boyd, himself, died in 1972 from compluactiosn related to Parkinson’s Disease and congestive heart failure.

Silver

admin July 22, 2025

Arguably the most famous horse in cinematic history, Silver was the magnificent white stallion who accompanied former Texas Ranger-turned-renegade-lawman, the Lone Ranger, in his adventures in the American Old West on radio, film and television and elsewhere. Tonto, the faithful Native American companion of The Lone Ranger, is credited with christening his horse ‘Silver’, simply because of the colour of his coat.

Silver was a mainstay of the original ‘The Lone Ranger’ radio series, which premiered in January 1933, ran for nearly 3,000 episodes and immortalised the battle cry, “Hi-yo, Silver, away!” However, perhaps the most memorable portrayal of Silver came in the television series, also titled ‘The Lone Ranger’, which aired for eight seasons, and 221 episodes, between 1949 and 1954. The Lone Ranger was played by Clayton Moore – in all bar the third season, when he was temporarily replaced by John Hart – and Jay Silverheels, real name Harold Jay Smith, played Tonto. Moore and Silverheels later starred in two feature films, ‘The Lone Ranger’ in 1956 and ‘The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold’ in 1958.

In the television, Silver was initially played by White Cloud, an imposing, but calm, Morab/Tennessee Walking Horse cross, who stood 17 hands high. Later, White Cloud was joined in the cast by a younger, excitable Morab/American Saddlebred, originally named Tarzen’s White Banner, but officially renamed ‘Hi-Yo Silver’. On the set, they became known as ‘Silver No. 1’ and ‘Silver No. 2’, with the former employed in scenes demanding maximum concentration and obedience, for the safety of all concerned, and the latter employed in less tricky scenes, just as galloping, and for publicity events. Professional horse trainer Glenn Randall, who also trained Trigger for Roy Rogers and Champion for Gene Autry, trained by horses.

Viewers remained blissfully unaware that they were, in fact, watching two different horses. Renowned for his striking looks, grace, speed and intelligence, Silver became as much an American cultural icon as the ‘Masked Man’ himself. Largely retired after the original run of the television series in 1954, White Cloud, a.k.a. Silver No. 1, spent the rest of his life at the Hudkins Brothers’ Ranch in North Hollywood, California, where he died, aged 22 or thereabouts, in 1959.

Shadowfax

admin July 22, 2025

Described by Gandalf the White as the “lord of all the horses”, Shadowfax is the horse that he rides throughout ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J.R.R. Tolkien. Silvery-grey by day and all but invisible by night, Shadowfax is a descendant of Felaróf and chief of the Mearas, a breed of horses renowned for their speed, stamina, intelligence and longevity. Originally, Shadowfax belonged to Théoden, King of Rohan, but having proved too wild to be tamed by the Horse Lords of Rohan, or Rohirrin, he is reluctantly gifted to Gandalf, in the first instance simply to be rid of the wizard.

Initially, Shadowfax remains as unapproachable by Gandalf as by anyone else but, after a lengthy pursuit, the pair establish trust and understanding, such that Shadowfax accepts the wizard as his one and only rider. Gandalf subsequently sends Shadowfax back to Théoden but, recognising the bond between the two, the King willingly bequeaths the horse to the White Rider, as Gandalf becomes known.

Gandalf says of Shadowfax, “The horses of the Nine [a.k.a. the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths] cannot vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind.” Capable of understanding human speech, Shadowfax plays a crucial role in some of the epic confrontations in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, notably the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the Siege of Minas Tirith, or Siege of Gondor. During the latter, he and Gandalf are the only ones to stand firm and resolute against the Lord of the Nazgûl, prior to the arrival of the Rohirrin.

Overall, Shadowfax is much more than a mere means of transport, or beast of burden. He epitomises freedom, unforced choice and nobility, which is completely at odds with the evil, oppressive intentions of Sauron, the Dark Lord, who seeks to recover the One Ring so that he can conquer, and subjegate, all the people of Middle Earth.Tolkien does not explicitly tell readers what happened to Shadow, but later stated his belief that the horse accompanied Gandalf, together with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins and the elves of Lothlórien, to the Undying Lands, or Valinor, at the conclusion of the story.

Sergeant Reckless

admin July 22, 2025

Sergeant Reckless or, strictly, Staff Sergeant Reckless, was a small, Mongolian-bred mare, who held official rank in the United States Marines Corps and served, with distinction, in the last nine months of the Korean War, which ended in July 1953. The mare was reputedly bought, as a three- or four-year-old, by Lieutenant Eric Petersen of the 75mm Recoilless Rifle Platoon for $250 at Seoul Racecourse in October 1952.

Her previous owner was Kim Huk Moon, a young Korean boy who needed the money to buy a prosthetic leg for his sister, who had been disabled by a land mine. Her name, ‘Reckless’, was a corruption of the ‘ Recoilless’ in the platoon title and she was trained as pack horse to carry munitions and other supplies over the rugged, mountainous terrain of South Korea.

Much beloved of her fellow Marines, Reckless enjoyed her finest hour at the Battle of Outpost Vegas, which took place in Yeoncheon County, South Korea between March 26 and March 30, 1953. In a single day, the diminutive mare made a total of 51 trips to the front line, more often than not completely on her own, and carried over 9,000lb of ammunition, all in the face of intense incoming fire.

Despite being wounded twice by shrapnel, above her left eye and on her left flank, she never stopped and subsequently received a battlefield promotion to corporal. She was further promoted to sergeant at the end of the Korean War in 1954 and, again, to staff sergeant, in 1959. She was also awarded two Purple Hearts for her bravery and service and is commemorated by statues at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California (where she lived after the Korean War) and the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Off the battlefield, Reckless was renowned for a voracious, and varied, appetite. Her diet apparently included scrambled eggs, pancakes, cake, sweets, Coca Cola and, like any red-blooded soldier, beer. Nevertheless, she became a national heroine in the United States and has been described as the greatest war horse ever to serve that country.