Horse Sensations
Famous Horses and Horse
Breeds
Famous Horses
COMANCHE was the only known survivor of
General Custer’s troops at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on
June 25, 1876. The bay mustang was ridden into battle by
Captain Myles Keogh and was found two days later, severely
wounded and near death. He was taken to Fort Lincoln by steamer
and spent the next twelve years there with the 7th Cavalry. He
was never ridden but sometimes led military processions,
carrying reversed boots. Along with the Cavalry, he moved to
Fort Riley, Kansas in 1888. He died of colic at the age of 29,
in 1891. He’s now in a glass case at the University of Kansas
Museum of Natural History.
TRAVELLER perhaps the best-known horse from
the Civil War, was the favorite mount of General Robert E. Lee.
He was a Saddlebred, foaled in 1857. Before becoming Lee’s
mount, Traveller was a successful show horse. He stood 16 hands
tall and weighed 1,100 pounds and was a good war horse because
of his great courage. He was euthanized in 1871 after he
developed incurable tetanus. Traveller’s bones were moved
several times before coming to rest at the Lee Chapel at
Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. A volume
of books about the Civil War as seen through the eyes of a
horse was supposedly ghost-written by Traveler.
SEABISCUIT was a great Thoroughbred
racehorse who became even more famous due to a 1949 film, a
2001 book, and a 2003 movie about him. He was born in 1933,
and his early racing career was unimpressive. His trainers
felt he was lazy, and he was often the butt of jokes. He was
purchased by Charles S. Howard, who hired Tom Smith to train
the colt. Smith was able to help Seabiscuit realize his
potential, and in 1937, he won 11 of his 15 races, making
him the top money earner in the US that year. He became a
celebrity on the West Coast, with a huge crowd of adoring
fans. Eastern race enthusiasts were unimpressed, however. To
them, the best horse in America was War Admiral, the Triple
Crown winner. In 1938, the “Match of the Century” was held,
between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Seabiscuit won by four
lengths and was named “Horse of the Year” for 1938.
Seabiscuit died in 1947 and was buried in a secret location
known only to the Howard family.
TRIGGER was the palomino stallion ridden by
Roy Rogers. He appeared with Rogers in 90 movies and over a
hundred television shows. Trigger was the son of a Thoroughbred
racehorse and was said to be intelligent and very gentle. He
died of old age in 1965 at the age of 33. Rogers had the horse
mounted in his bridle and saddle, and he’s on display at the
Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri.
LITTLE SORREL was captured by the Confederates
at the Battle of Harpers Ferry. General Stonewall Jackson
thought the horse would be a good mount for his wife, but when
the general’s own horse proved to be unreliable in battle, he
took Little Sorrel for his own. After Jackson’s death, the
horse became the mascot for the Virginia Military Institute and
was frequently on exhibition throughout the South. At the age
of 35, he was retired to the Confederate Soldiers’ Home in
1885. In 1886, he died from a broken back and was mounted and
displayed at the Veterans’ Home. In 1949, he was moved to the
Virginia Military Institute’s Museum and is still on display
there.
MAN o’ WAR, probably the most famous racehorse
of all time, was born in 1917. He was purchased as a yearling
by Samuel D. Riddle and won 20 of his 21 races, often beating
the competition by several lengths, even when carrying more
weight. He set three track records, two American records, and
three world records in his racing career. He was retired to
stud at an early age and sired such famous horses as Triple
Crown winner War Admiral, and Hard Tack, the sire of
Seabiscuit. In his old age he was sent to Faraway Farm, where
he died of a heart condition in 1947, at the age of 30. He was
buried at Faraway, in a coffin lined with his racing silks. His
life-size likeness in bronze was placed over his grave. His
remains and statue were moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in the
1970s.
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