PHAR LAP - A unicorn from Down Under

While the US struggled through the great Depression and pinned its hopes and dreams on a funny looking little hero of a horse named Seabiscuit, our friends in Australia and New Zealand had their own hero to carry them through the Depression. Their National Icon was a large, chestnut thoroughbred named Phar Lap.

Phar Lap was foaled on Oct. 4, 1926 in Seadown in the South Island of New Zealand. Sydney trainer, Harry Telford convinced wealthy American Businessman, David J. Davis, to buy him as a yearling, sight unseen based upon his pedigree. When he arrived in Australia he was a gangly, awkward colt with warts all over his face! When Davis saw him he was so angry he refused to spend another penny training him. So, Telford offered to train him for nothing in exchange for 2/3 of his winnings...if there would ever be any! Telford had him gelded so he would concentrate on his training better.

His first race he came in dead last and he didn't even place in his next three. However, as he matured, his achievements slowly started to accumulate and so did his reputation. In fact, criminals tried to shoot him early in the morning of Nov. 1, 1930. They missed and he went on to win the Melbourne Stakes that afternoon. Three days later he won the Melbourne Cup. In 1931, he won fourteen races in a row!

Eventually Telford had enough money to become joint owner of Phar Lap whose name comes from a Thai word that means "Lightening."

His nicknames included "Big Red," just like Man 'O War and Secretariat,) and "Australia's Wonder Horse."

In 1932 Davis insisted upon bringing Phar Lap to America to run in some races. He ran his last race in Tijuana Mexico for the largest purse ever offered in America. He was then taken to California.

On April 5, 1932, Phar Lap died by Hemorrhaging to death. A necropsy revealed that hte stomach and intestines were severely inflamed. Since that time, theories have abound as to his cause of death, the most sinister of which involves U.S. Gangsters who poisoned him so he wouldn't mess up their bookie businesses. In 2006, a team of researchers in Australia concluded that it was almost certain that Phar Lap was indeed poisoned with a large dose of Arsenic. This supported the Gangster theory. However, Arsenic was a common tonic in those days and most horses were given it in small doses. In 2008, a study of six hairs from Phar Lap's mane suggested that he was given a massive dose of arsenic 30 to 40 hours before his death. Very Suspicious I would say!

Phar Lap's remains have been divided up between his two countries. His Hide is in the Melbourne Museum, His Skeleton in in the Museum of New Zealand and his enormous heart, like Secretariat's, is in the National Museum of Australia.

He is an icon in both Australia and New Zealand and a worthy nominee for Unicornhood!

Here is a clip from the 1983 movie about Phar Lap titled "Phar Lap: Heart of a Nation."

THE LIPIZZAN STALLIONS OF VIENNA

I have a dream that someday...someday... I will be able to ride like the riders of the Spanish Riding School. That "someday" may not be until I'm in heaven but at least I have something to look forward to.

Today's blog is dedicated to the riders and stallions of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

In the third and final book of the Mist Trilogy, "The Rising Mist," (Not yet released) the Legion of the Unicorn is sent to earth to rescue ten of the Lipizzaner Stallions that are kidnapped from their stable in Vienna. I have always been fascinated by these stallions and went to visit their home when I was in Vienna.

Their story is a fascinating one and was captured in the Disney Movie,"The Miracle of the White Stallions." It truly was a miracle that they survived World War II (have I told you that I hate war?) Note: it wasn't just World War II that threatened them. For several hundred years they have had to be protected from man's wars by men themselves.

The story of the resue during World War II is an interesting one and actually took part in two places. During WW II, the high command of Nazi Germany, to which the citizens of Austria had voted overwhelmingly to support before the outbreak of the war, sent the Lipizzan breeding stock to Czechoslovaki including the breeding stock for the SRS that were stabled in Piber. This occured in 1942.

The Stallions in Vienna were moved to St. Martins in January of 1945 as bombing raids drew nearer to the city. At this time, the horses in Hostau Czechoslovakia were threatened by the advancing Soviet Army who might have slaughtered them to feed their hungry troops. In the spring of 1945, the head of the Spanish Riding School, Colonel Alois Podhajsky (definately a future unicorn rider) arranged to put on a performance for General George S. Patton. Both men were Olympic riders by the way. At the end of the performance, Podhajsky asked Patton to take the horses under his protection which Patton, to his immense credit, did.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Army Tank unit under the command of Colonel Charles Reed directed "Operation Cowboy" which saved the breeding stock in Czechoslovakia. They rode, herded and trucked 1,200 horses, including 375 Lipizzans, 35 miles across the border into Kotztinz, Germany where they would be safe.

If you want to learn more about the Lipizzan's of the Spanish Riding School, both the history and their training techniques, watch these two videos. They are beautifully done and you will learn a lot!

Take a break from training your own horse to read "Behind the Mist," The horse and Unicorn Lover's fantasy.

Available here: www.behindthemist.com

and wherever books are sold.

FURY - Famous horse of TV and Movies

If you are my age, you must remember the Saturday Morning T.V. Series "Fury." If so, this will look very familiar to you! It ran from 1955 to 1960 on NBC. I watched it every Saturday morning until the last year when I started taking riding lessons on Saturday mornings. Like any young, horse-loving girl...I LOVED Fury. He was beautiful and brave and loyal to his beloved "Joey."


So, I looked up some information about Fury. Most of the information comes from the website:
http://www.horsefame.tripod.com/.

Fury was discovered on a Missour farm by the famous trainer of animals for movies and television named Ralph McCutcheon. Mr. McCutcheon immediatly recognized the star potential in the 18 month old colt. He purchased the colt and moved him to his five acre ranch in Van Nuys, California.

The T.V. Series "Fury" stared Peter Graves as "Jim," Bobby Diamond as his son "Joey," and William Fawcett as "Pete." Reruns were carried on NBC from 1960 to 1966 under the title "Brave Stallion." "Brave Stallion" also ran internationally. The stories were based upon the Books by Albert G. Miller. Maybe, someday there will be a television series about the Legion of the Unicorn based upon the Mist Trilogy books!!!

Fury was only 26 months old when he starred in one of the many "Black Beauty" Films. He also starred in "Gypsy Colt," for which he had to do lots of tricks. Then in "Giant" with co-star Elizabeth Taylor. The young Elizabeth Taylor was in lots of horse movies. I wonder if she loved horses???

Fury's name changed frequently depending upon the current role he was playing: HIghland Dale to Beauty to Gypsy to Fury.

The beautiful black horse loved to be bathed and curried, especially on hot California days. His favorite trick was to roll in the sandy dirt between scenes, forcing his grooms to bathe and curry him. He suffered from Heaves (Like Asthma in people) so he had to have all the dust washed out of his hay.

Fury won three Patsy awards which are the animal equivalent of Oscars.

Order the new fantasy, Behind the Mist, for horse and unicorn lovers!Great for middle grade readers to adults.
Click here:
http://www.behindthemist.com/

PORCELAIN UNICORN

Behind the Mist is a fun story about the noble and great horses that become unicorns in the afterlife. This blog is dedicated to those noble and great horses. However, today I want to share with you a completely different unicorn story that was sent to me by a reader. It is worth your time, I promise you.

Let me include this by way of introduction:

The legendary British film director Sir Ridley Scott launched a global film contest for aspiring directors. The contest was called, "Tell It Your Way." There were over 600 entries. The rules of the contest were that the film could be no longer than three minutes, contain only 6 lines of narrative, and be a compelling story.

The winner was "Porcelain Unicorn," by the American director Keegan Wilcox. It's a story of the lifetimes of two people who are totally opposite, yet very much the same. All told in less than three minutes. Maybe you too can see why it won.



May we never forget the brotherhood and sisterhood of all men.

HORSES ARE SMARTER THAN SOME PEOPLE THINK!

If you haven't seen War Horse yet...why not? You will love it! If you watch the movie and find yourself saying "Yeah Right. A horse wouldn't do that." Think again. While the story is fictional, the horse, Joey depicts authentic horse behaviour. A study of 20 Anglo Arabs and 3 Saddlebreds in a stable in France showed some interesting things about a horse's intelligence. Three main conclusions were drawn.

1) Horses remember people who are kind to them even after a long separation,
2) Horses understand words better than expected and
3) Horses possess excellent memories.


Horses are willing to include humans in their "Herds," even as the leader. And they never Forget Human Friends. They are very forgiving but they never forget! In the study, one trainer used kind words and edible treats to train. Another did not. After an eight month separation, the horses gravitated to the kind trainer, licking and sniffing as they greeted her. This is how they greet their horse friends, and is a sign of affection, not just searching for food. The horses that were trained without food rewards were also four to six times more likely to display negative behaviors such as biting and kicking.

The research was led by Carol S. Ankey. She concluded that "Equid social relationships are long-lasting and in some cased lifelong." She found that, while we are accustomed to training dogs with verbal commands, most horse trainers use tactile sensations such as bit, leg and seat pressure. Yet, horses learn and memorize human words better than dogs. We can incorporate this into our training (and every time you ride a horse you are training for good or ill,) by using more words. Unfortunately, you can not speak when showing in dressage but you could certainly do more speaking during training.

Now, lets compare this to the movie: War Horse. First, the English boy who so loved Joey started training him with a whistle and a reward of treats when he came. It was this whistle, years later, that the horse remembered and enabled the boy and the horse to be reunited. Also depicted in the movie was a close friendship between Joey and the big, black Frisian. Both horses were captured by the German army but they stayed together and looked out for one another until the Frisian died.

Behind the Mist Book Trailer

Enjoy the just completed book trailer for Behind the Mist.



If you haven't read Behind the Mist yet, you can order it on its own website: http://www.behindthemist.com/ or wherever books are sold.

WAR HORSE-See a future unicorn in action

On December 5th I was privileged to be able to preview the new movie "War Horse" by Steven Spielberg to be released on Christmas Day. What an experience! What a great Christmas gift to all of us, horse-lover or not! I loved this movie, not only because I love horses and hate war but because of all the messages within and around it.

Steven Spielberg saw the fantastic play "War Horse" in London and it inspired him to put aside all other projects and make that story into a movie.

If you haven't heard about this play it is quite amazing. The horses are all depicted by puppets and the puppeteers have so thoroughly studied the natural movements of horses that you completely forget that the puppets aren't real.

The story is about the love between a boy and a horse, just like in Behind the Mist. The story opens in England just before World War I when the boy's father, in a state of inebriation spent all of the families meager funds on a young, untrained thoroughbred colt instead of the needed plow horse. With loving training by the man's son, "Joey" as he is named becomes not only loyal but very strong. When the war comes, the farmer is forced to sell Joey to save the farm, breaking his son's heart, and Joey is sent off to war, but not before the boy promises to find him.

There are several touching moments in the film that had me crying...sobbing actually, and others that had me gripping by husband's arm tightly. One of the most touching scenes reminded me of the story about the Christmas Eve during WWI when the soldiers from both sides set down their guns and sang "Silent Night" together. In this movie, Joey escapes the German's who have captured him and is running between the trenches in "No Man's Land." It is a brutal scene as the horse becomes entangled in the barbed wire. (Barbed wire is every horseperson's worst nightmare!) An English solder risks his life to go out to try to save him and is joined by a German soldier who has a pair of wire cutters. The depiction of the bond of humanity that connects these two young men who have enmity forced upon them is worth the price of admission.

I don't want to spoil the movie for you but let me just say that it has shades of "Black Beauty!"

Movie producers think that "Horses don't sell." Let's prove them WRONG! Go see WAR HORSE!

After you see it, send me your comments either here, on Face book: Behind the Mist, or on my email: mjevansbtm@gmail.com

I have no doubt that Joey has earned his unicorn horn by now!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!