"A Pair of Hopalong Boots"

Hopalong Cassidy and Topper

No matter where you go this time of year, you're likely to hear holiday music. One of  the perennial favorites of the last 70-plus years is the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." Written by composer Meredith Willson, it was first recorded in 1951 by both Perry Como (on September 18) and Bing Crosby (on October 1). Other artists including Johnny Mathis and Michael Buble' have since recorded cover versions. 

(Here's a link to the Perry Como version, if you need a some background music while you read this post: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmddeUJJEuU )

Younger readers might need a little context to understand some of the lyrics. One line in particular that relates to California's horse history is in the refrain:

A pair of Hop-a-long boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again...

"Hop-a-long" refers to the items marketed to kids under the brand of actor and entrepreneur William Boyd (1895-1972), better known as his cowboy character Hopalong Cassidy. 

And this isn't just a line in a seasonal song sung long ago. Hopalong Cassidy was part of the vanguard of Hollywood Western movie and television stars that dominated American pop culture in the years following World War II. As ceramic artist and historian Kristina Lucas Francis has pointed out, cowboys were as big back then, as "Star Wars," "Batman," and the Marvel Universe are today. 

AND the cowboys had horses. Hoppy wore black; his white horse was called Topper. Newspaper articles sometimes referred to Topper as an Arabian, but I see other examples of mostly-white movie horses billed as  "Arabians" that were Not Really Arabians. Topper had gray spots on the underside of his neck. Other sources say Topper may have been a Tennessee Walker. 

Boyd first played Hopalong Cassidy in 1935. His films were admired for having better cinematography and better-known supporting actors, than the usual low-budget "horse westerns" of the day. 

After World War II, though, movie producers and theaters were losing interest in cowboy films; Boyd produced the last twelve "Hopalong Cassidy" films himself. The series ended in 1948.

But Hopalong Cassidy would soon ride again. Boyd invested everything he had in buying the rights to his old films, then offered one of them to a local NBC television affiliate in 1949. The film's broadcast was so successful that NBC asked for more, and within months Boyd had released the entire library, starting the pop culture phenomenon of the TV cowboy that would be quickly followed by other major Western film stars like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and more.

1949 was the same year that Boyd's prescient marketing of All Things Hopalong Cassidy began. He held the rights to his image, and licensed Hopalong Cassidy products far and wide. 

We first see ads for Hopalong Cassidy-themed children's clothing and accessories in American newspapers in the autumn of 1949, just in time for children's Back To School sales. 

Richmond, VA News-Leader, 6 September 1949

But contrary to the line in the song that says boys wanted Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots, Hoppy's "merch" was originally targeted at boys and girls. In the ad above, we see a boy and a girl wearing Hopalong Cassidy-themed clothing, including "ranch pants."

By Christmas 1950, the craze for cowboy couture for kids was even bigger. This ad shows a version of a girl's Hopalong Cassidy outfit with a skirt.

Baltimore, MD Evening Sun, 19 December 1950

Some department store ads that featured Hopalong Cassidy merchandise also promoted similar Roy Rogers-themed wares: "Let Him or Her Be a Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers."

Delaware County (Chester, PA) Daily Times, 22 December 1950

Other advertising targeted boys as the primary recipients of Hoppy gear.

Columbus, Ohio Ledger, 20 December 1950

By 1951, when "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" first came out, "a pair of Hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots" would not have been cheap. This ad for the Pizitz store in Birmingham, Alabama offered the boots at $7.95 a pair; in 2023 dollars, that's just under $100 adjusted for inflation. "Pistols that shoot" cost between $3.29 and $10.95.

 

The Birmingham News, 16 December 1951

In this ad, girls' Hopalong suits were less expensive than boys'.

You just can't have a cowboy without a horse. Images of Hoppy's faithful white horse Topper decorated child-size riding chaps, pocket knives, towels, bedspreads, pajamas and sweatshirts. A vinyl record of "The Story of Topper" was released. 

Scranton, PA Times-Tribune, 8 December 1950

We see a metal toy Hoppy and Topper in this ad from 1950.

Nashville Banner, 15 December 1950

Here's a link to a YouTube video of the toy in action!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZfJlARMV9zM

Tiny buckaroos could aspire to own an inflatable Topper that neighed as the cowboy swung back and forth in the saddle.

Chattanooga, TN Daily Times, 21 September 1952

Ideal Toys issued a licensed plastic horse and rider set of Hoppy and Topper in the 1950s.

Source: Facebook Marketplace.

Boyd and Topper made countless personal appearances and rode in Pasadena's Tournament of Roses and New York's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades.

New York Daily News, 24 November 1950

 

The wide range of "Hopalong Cassidy and Topper"-themed merchandise in the 1950s is staggering: birthday cards, lunch boxes, toy chests, bracelets, woodburning sets, cameras, a canasta card game, watches, comic books, dishes, trading cards, trash cans, and more. Sources estimate the value of the licensed products at $70 million. 

Interactive Hoppy and Topper birthday card (author's collection).

So the next time you hear "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," you can think of Topper and his cowboy friend, Bill Boyd, and the phenomenal impact they had on American pop culture during their day. 

_______________________________________

Hoppy's old pal Topper died in 1959, and is buried at the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park, also known as Save Our Pets' History in Eternity, or SOPHIE, in Calabasas, California; Bill Boyd retired the character of Hopalong Cassidy not long afterwards. Boyd himself is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. 

You can read about Hopalong Cassidy films that were shot at the Iverson Ranch in Southern California here:  

https://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/search/label/Hopalong%20Cassidy

"The Story of Topper" recording, complete with cowboy song, is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erxOP8zn6Ec

Petrine Day Mitchum's book Hollywood Hoofbeats is a good resource for more information on TV and movie horses:

https://www.npr.org/2016/03/21/471283190/hollywood-hoofbeats-chronicles-the-horses-that-captured-moviegoers-hearts

Here's a link to my 2013 blog post on Hopalong Cassidy:  

https://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2013/04/legends-of-cinematic-old-west-part-one.html

 

 

Down Another Equine History "Rabbit Hole:" Spide Rathbun's Mention of the Arabian Horse Vonolel

"General Roberts on Vonolel, [circa] 1881."
Photograph by John Burke, India.
National Army Museum, London
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1955-04-46-5

[Updated 24 October 2023 with additional information and photographs!]

One of the hazards of equine history research is that you always find "sidebar" stories that are so interesting you have to stop what you're doing and pursue the sidebar, also known as "going down a rabbit hole (or trail)."

Sometimes the only way to get out of the rabbit hole is to write about it, close its file, and go back to your original topic. So I'm going to tell you about the Arabian called Vonolel. I found him at the bottom of a recent rabbit hole.

This time, my original research subject (as it so often is) was W. K. Kellogg, the Battle Creek, Michigan millionaire cereal manufacturer whose Arabian horse ranch in Pomona, California had such an impact on the breed in the twentieth century.

Earl Henry "Spide" Rathbun (1886 -1961) was one of the many people connected with the Kellogg Ranch who helped promote the Arabian breed. A Battle Creek native, Rathbun did publicity for W. K. Kellogg, as did the Kellogg company's advertising agency, N. W. Ayer and Sons. 

In later years, Rathbun became known as an expert in all things Arabian horse. His business was called Calarabian (as opposed to Calarabia, the Arabian horse ranch owned by E. E. Hurlbutt). Rathbun's letterhead was embellished with the famous "Three Graces" photograph of the Kellogg Arabians "Latif" (registered as Deyrak), Arak, and Fasal. "Research on the Arabian Horse in California," the stationery proclaimed. 

Part of the first page of a 1949 letter from Spide Rathbun to W. K. Kellogg,
in the collection at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.

Rathbun's article on Arabians was published in the San Francisco Examiner on December 27, 1953, called "Those Aristocratic Arabians." 

The article mentions the names of some famous Arabian horses, including Buffalo Bill's Muson and Napoleon's Marengo. Rathbun also mentioned one I had not heard of before. Rathbun, and many other sources including major newspapers in the late 1800s, spelled the horse's name "Volonel."

So naturally I had to stop what I was working on and look up Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts (1832-1914) and his "beautifully diminutive" Arabian stallion. I reached out to the National Army Museum in London, and they corrected my original spelling of the horse's name: it was actually Vonolel.

Surely, I thought,  if Queen Victoria had decorated Vonolel, the newspapers of the day would have written about him. And they did.

Vonolel appears to have been foaled in 1872, perhaps in India. This illustration of Roberts and Vonolel, "his little grey Arab," appeared in the London Daily Telegraph, 21 December 1899.

A search of the Internet led me to a copy of the July 1900 issue of Cassell's Magazine for sale online. And there they were on the cover, the "Best of Brilliant Soldiers: Field Marshal LORD ROBERTS on his celebrated Arab charger, 'Volonel.'" 

The 11 October 1897 edition of the Manchester Evening Chronicle summarized Vonolel's career with Lord Roberts, and the fact that they had taken part in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee parade.

A YouTube account has published a silent film of the parade. What appear to be Vonolel and Lord Roberts (based on the horse's appearance and the rider's uniform) appear starting at about 1:22.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxohzRe9D6w

The collection of the National Army Museum in London holds this 1894 portrait of Roberts and Vonolel by Charles Furse (1869-1904). 

Source: National Army Museum website. (Out of Copyright.) NAM. 1983-07-9-1

The online description reads:

Roberts purchased his Arab charger 'Vonolel' while he was still a major soon after the Lushai Expedition in India (1871-1872), during which he defeated the son of a locally renowned chief after whom the horse was named.

Although little bigger than a pony, 'Vonolel' was his master's only reliable horse during the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880) and carried Roberts on the celebrated march from Kabul to Kandahar. Thereafter he became a familiar sight at ceremonial parades and camps of exercise throughout India. He accompanied Roberts to Ireland where the latter served as Commander-in-Chief from 1895 to 1899.

Vonolel died in 1899. Queen Victoria conferred an Earldom on Lord Roberts and made him the last Commander in Chief of the Forces on 3 January 1901. It would be one of her last official acts; Victoria died on 22 January 1901. Roberts died of pneumonia in 1914 while visiting the troops in France during World War I. 

The National Army Museum collection has a photograph of Vonolel's grave marker:

Source: National Army Museum website. Out of copyright. NAM. 1955-04-80-1

And another of the horse himself, in-hand:

Source:National Army Museum. Out of copyright.
 https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1955-04-46-4

The NAM collection also holds the Vonolel Bowl, sterling silver, mounted with the horse's hooves, saddle leather, and medals. Field Marshal Roberts commissioned it in 1904.  (Repurposing the hooves of deceased favorite horses was common in that era.)

Source: National Army Museum.
 https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1955-04-80-1.

There's a statue of Lord Roberts on Vonolel in Glasgow, Scotland, copied from an original in India designed by Harry Bates. The copy was executed by Henry Poole, and unveiled in August 1916.

By © MSeses / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48101680

A Facebook friend reminded me that there is also a statue of Vonolel and Lord Roberts at Horse Guards Parade in London. I had taken this photo of it when we visited, before the pandemic.

You can read a summary of Lord Roberts' life here. (Remember, horses did not invent Colonialism.)

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/frederick-roberts-bobs

The Wikipedia entry for Lord Roberts is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Roberts,_1st_Earl_Roberts

There are several letters from Spide Rathbun in the collection at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona. 

And, to bring the story full circle, W. K. Kellogg (or one of his employees) pasted a magazine article that mentioned Vonolel into a scrapbook: "Brothers of the Wind," by Chester Newson Hess, in Touring Topics, October 1929.  

https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/c.php?g=753464&p=5397393

Certain images may be provided under the Fair Use Provision in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act. "Fair Use" specifically allows the use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes only.

The Little Gray Arabian Stallion, at Home

We do a lot of virtual time-traveling in this blog. Now let's imagine we are riding around in our '37 Chevy with some horse-crazy people in Southern California, sometime around the end of World War II, maybe a few years after. 

We don't know their names, but from looking at the old black-and-white snapshots they left behind, we know these folks love horses. They're making a trip to the San Gabriel Valley northeast of Los Angeles, to visit a ranch destined to become one of the most influential American Arabian horse breeding establishments of our time. 

And of course they're going to take a camera.

The sign outside the ranch reads:

REGISTERED

ARABIAN HORSES

H.H. REESE

As the visitors approach, they see one of the stallions in a paddock surrounded by trees. He's a little fellow, almost pony-sized; he looks relaxed and happy. Perhaps he's munching on something? He's a dapple gray, turning whiter with time. He has a beautiful wide head, a deep jowl, expressive eyes, and a small muzzle. 

The visitors get out the camera. One click, and this image of the little horse is preserved for posterity.

And until their photograph of the little gray Arabian stallion turned up at an estate sale in Southern California in the summer of 2023, it's likely no one else had ever seen it. I didn't go to the sale, but someone who did attend rescued the photograph and gave it to me a few days ago.

The sign told me where the photo had been taken, and I was almost certain I knew the name of the horse. Why would someone have visited Herbert H. Reese's Rancho Canada Oscura (Ranch of the Hidden Canyon) in Covina, if not to see his famous Arabian stallions?

I checked with my friend and mentor, Arabian horse historian par excellence Carol Woodbridge Mulder. She wrote back:

"I am sure that is Ferseyn in the paddock with the sign about Reese's horse business. I remember seeing Ferseyn many, many times in that paddock on Glendora Ave. in Covina."

Ferseyn, foaled in 1937, was bred at the W. K. Kellogg Institute in 1936, the son of *Raseyn and *Ferda. At the time, Herbert Reese was managing the Kellogg Ranch. Cattle and horse rancher Fred Vanderhoof bought *Ferda shortly afterwards. Ferseyn was foaled at Vanderhoof's ranch in Woodlake (San Joaquin Valley). 

Correspondence in the collection of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library shows that, when Ferseyn was two years old, Vanderhoof sent him and some other horses to Reese's ranch in Covina, Reese having parted company with the Kellogg property and set up his own Arabian breeding establishment in Covina in February 1939. Vanderhoof took out an ad in Western Horseman magazine in March 1939, featuring a photo of the young Ferseyn. The ad calls him "brown," but he was already starting to turn gray.

In his book The Kellogg Arabians, Reese wrote that the more he looked at Ferseyn, the more he liked him, and bought him for his own. Ferseyn appears in an "At Stud" ad for Reese's ranch in the September 1939 issue of Western Horseman.

Along with the single photo of Ferseyn from the estate sale, there was another surviving souvenir of the visit to the Rancho that pointed to the identity of the little stallion. Mr. Reese had had brochures made for each of his famous stallions, specially reprinted from material originally published in Western Livestock Journal. Two of his most famous stallions -- Abu Farwa, and Alla Amarward -- were chestnuts. Ferseyn was gray. His flyer was reprinted from an ad in WLJ's September 1944 issue. 

Ferseyn, Abu Farwa, and Alla Amarward went on to become three of the leading Arabian sires in North America in the mid-twentieth century.  It's nice to see the amateur snapshot of the little gray stallion relaxing in the pasture at Reese's Arabian Horse Ranch, waiting for some human guests to arrive. 

_____________________________________________________

The website for the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona is here:  https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/wkkahl

Herbert H. Reese and Gladys Brown Edwards collaborated on several books. 

The Kellogg Arabians

Training the Arabian Horse

Arabian Horse Breeding

Horses of Today: Their History, Breeds, and Qualifications 

Affordable good used copies are readily available via online booksellers. Shop around for a price under $20 apiece.

Lonny Hitchen has posted a short film of an older Ferseyn on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0rc5RmhTXM

From the Los Angeles County Horseman's Directory, 1949-50 Edition: Part One

The cover art for the Directory appears to be a drawing called "Paint Rock and Foal"
by George Shepherd. He was well-known for his portraits of Thoroughbreds.

One of the most interesting and useful pieces of the story of California horses I've come across lately is a copy of the 1949-50 edition of the Los Angeles County Horseman's Directory, Illustrated. 

The inside cover featured one of R. H. Palenske's
famous head studies of Man O'War.

The Directory is copyrighted 1949 by California Horseman's Surveys, 455 El Dorado Street, Pasadena, California. The Introduction was written by Frederick C. ("Rick") Knowles. This copy came from the estate of Monrovia, California horse rancher Merle H. Little, who signed the bottom of the inside cover page.

Merle also saved a copy of Knowles' folded business card, which explains the purpose and distribution of the book. Knowles must have handed out these cards to potential advertisers and distributors of the free publication.

The inside of the card explained:

The 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY HORSEMANS' DIRECTORY 

is now being compiled in book form for

early publication. 

An estimated 300 pages of good reading, good pictures, and excellent reference.

Names and addresses of 4000 L. A. county horse owners, pictures of today's outstanding stallions, Riding Clubs, Drill Teams, Etc.

Complete listings of Veterinarians, Horse shoers, Boarding and Training Stables and related industry in Los Angeles County.

10,000 free copies of this publication will be distributed in Los Angeles County through our Co-Operative publicity plan.

I haven't attempted to count yet, but it does look like there are several thousand horse owners and breeders listed inside, arranged by city. There are many photos of riding groups, ads for stallions at stud, breed registries, stables, and more. 

There is so much useful information packed into this 212-page paperback publication that I'm going to have to write several posts about it. To start with, let's look at the last page, which provides more context for the book's significance. It notes, "Some sources indicate that there may be as many as 75,000 horses in L.A. County."

The publishers had taken a survey of horse owners, and found that "82 percent keep and maintain their stables strictly for their own pleasure and recreation. The remaining 18 percent are breeders of registered stock, who supply the ever increasing demands for quality stock, both for pleasure and show."

The publishers had asked:

'IF YOU WERE TO BREED HORSES, WHAT TYPE OR BREED WOULD YOU PREFER?"

A brief summary of the answers will provide information of inestimable value to the entire horse industry. The results of this survey show --

    42% would prefer a cold blood, quarter type, pleasure horse. Because most anyone can ride them.

    21% would breed for color: (Palomino, 94%; Pinto 6%). They make a flashy Parade or Pleasure horse.

14% would breed Arabians, if they could get good mares. The most feel there are plenty of good Stallions in this area to breed to.

9% like Tennessee Walkers -- because they are gentle, have style, and are noted for an easy ride.

6% would breed Saddlebreds -- They like the Show horse; or because the Saddlebreds have style for both Pleasure and Parade.

5% would definitely breed Morgans, because the Morgan has style, endurance, and good disposition.

2% like Thoroughbreds, because of  their place in the Racing Industry.

1% like the Standard-bred, because they prefer a road horse, and this type is returning to popularity.

The page concludes:

"73% of the horses in Los Angeles County are not registered.

"12% can be classified as Pure Bred, and another 15% of them are Registered in one or more recognized Study [Stud] Books."

In short, this small book provides us with an exciting snapshot in time. 

I think the Directory will be very helpful in demonstrating just how important horses were in Southern California after World War II. It's not always easy to convey this truth to people who were born after the days when many backyard stalls and paddocks were torn down, and horse ranches and riding stables were replaced by freeways, housing developments, and shopping malls. 

It will also be useful to academic, professional, and amateur equine historians in search of more details about post-war horses and their owners and businesses that supported the horse industry, as well as researchers who are interested in the history of popular culture, outdoor recreation, sports, entertainment, land use, and the built environment.

More to come!

Southern California's Dancing White Horses, 1940s through 1950s

The Lipizzaner Pasha with his person, Cecelie "Cilly" Feindt

My research of horses in Southern California during the twentieth century often intersects with the work of artist Maureen May Love (1922-2004). A desire to try to discover the inspiration for Maureen's design for the California pottery Hagen-Renaker, Inc.'s B-653 "Lipizzan" (as the company described it) led me to some real Lipizzaners that lived in Southern California in the 1940s and '50s.

Here's the Hagen-Renaker Lipizzaner, first issued in 1957.  

(photo source: HR Online Museum)

It seemed a bit odd that a breed that was relatively obscure in the United States would be added to H-R's horse lineup in 1957.  I had always assumed that Maureen had read about Lipizzaners in newspapers or magazines, and used photos to create her design.

Then I was asked to do a presentation at a May 2023 model horse event in San Diego County, on the real horses that inspired Maureen's work. I had to move out of my comfort zone to do more in-depth research. I didn't come up with a conclusive answer, but I found out about several interesting Lipizzaner horses and their humans in the process.

Maureen Love often sketched real horses before creating
her three-dimensional designs for Hagen-Renaker, Inc.

Hagen-Renaker was based in Monrovia, in the San Gabriel Valley, during the 1950s. Maureen Love moved to that area in 1950. She first got a job as a decorator (painter) for H-R; by 1953 she was designing horses for the company. I knew that Maureen preferred to use living horses to inspire her art. 

So I wondered, were there any Lipizzaners within driving distance of Monrovia during that time? I looked in many sources, using every spelling and misspelling of “Lipizzan” and “Lipizzaner” I could think of.  I discovered several Lipizzaners were living in Southern California during the 1940s and ‘50s.

Robert Young and Florian

The 1940 film “Florian” starred Robert Young and a Lipizzaner stallion they called Florian, but whose registered name was *Pluto J-1. The movie, based on a Felix Salten novel, is set in 1910 and was mostly filmed at the MGM Studios in Culver City, California (about 30 miles from Monrovia). “Florian” lived about 40 miles from Monrovia.

Helen Gilbert and Robert Young were the lead (human)
actors in the film "Florian."

In November 1939, Hollywood columnist Harold Heffernan reported that Robert Young wanted to act in "Florian" because of his "inherent love for horseflesh, and [he] even owns a riding academy and breeding farm. But Young had no idea what he was getting into...."  Young, who had thought he could ride, ended up living for several weeks at the Ventura County Ranch of "Florian" producer Winfield Sheehan learning dressage. Sheehan (1883-1945) had imported four Lipizzaners (two stallions and two mares) from Austria to his ranch in 1935, and at least two foals had been born since then. 

Many of the "location" scenes for "Florian" were filmed at Sheehan's ranch in Ventura County. Columnist Heffernan said the Ventura County hills and pastures created a "strikingly realistic imitation of Austrian landscapes." 

The stables at the Spanish Riding School in Lipica (or Lipizza), Austria were re-created on the MGM sound stages. (See my notes on the performance with a link to a scene from the film, at the end of this post.)  

Robert Young's extra riding lessons paid off.

[Sidebar: Under the heading of "what did you think was going to happen?" Heffernan reported that Sheehan had sent MGM cameraman Richard Rossen to Vienna to gather 40,000 feet of background footage for "Florian." Other news reports said Rossen had filmed some Austrian Lipizzaners in action for use in "Florian." Rossen and his camera ended up in Nazi custody for about six weeks on suspicion of espionage, accused of filming "the wrong things." (Hello.) Fortunately Rossen did end up safely back in Hollywood with most of the footage he shot.] 

Towards the end of World War II, in 1945, the US Army famously liberated horses that had been captured by the Nazis and brought them from Western Europe to the United States. (I'll put some links at the end of this post on "Operation Cowboy.")

After the War, there were several Lipizzaners living at the Quartermaster Remount Depot in Pomona, only a few miles from Monrovia, along with several Arabians including *Witez II and *Lotnik, and some Shagya Arabians (also called "Arab-kind"), all liberated from the Nazis in 1945. 

Two of the Lipizzaners were stallions: *Pluto XX (originally from Hungary) and *Siglavy Virtuosa (originally from the famous Piber Stud in Austria).

*Pluto XX at the Pomona Remount. Photo in the collection
of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, used with permission.

*Pluto XX's stall sign from his days at the Pomona Remount Depot
is part of the collection of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.

*Siglavy Virtuosa at the Pomona Remount.
Photo in the collection of the W. K. Kellogg
Arabian Horse Library, used with permission.

There were also five Lipizzaner mares and one foal at the Pomona Remount Depot. The mares were listed as *44 Favory, *48 Favory, *65 Maestoso XX, *89 Maestoso XX (their names came from their sires), and *Saffa. Her 1946 colt called *Saffan was foaled at the Pomona Remount. 

We know that the Army used to exhibit some of the Lipizzaners, along with Arabians and Shagyas, between the time the war ended in 1945 and the end of the Remount's stay in Pomona in 1949. Gladys Brown (Edwards) illustrated one of the 1946 show programs.

The "Preview of Blood Horses recently imported from European Government Nurseries by the U.S. Army Remount Service" program is in the collection at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona.

These Lipizzaners were sold by the Remount in the late 1940s. The stallions went to new owners in Kansas and Washington State. 

Since she apparently didn't arrive in Monrovia until 1950, it’s unlikely the artist Maureen Love ever saw the film star Florian or the Pomona Remount Lipizzaners in person. 

But there were at least two, possibly three, Lipizzaners performing in Southern California during the 1950s, closer to the time when Maureen would have designed the Hagen-Renaker Lipizzaner.

The legendary dressage rider Albert Ostermaier (1925-1994) performed at circuses and horse shows around the US and Canada from the 1940s through 1980s. A native of Munich, Germany, Ostermaier came to the US as a very young man, before World War II broke out. He owned and showed at least two Lipizzaners in Southern California during the early to mid-1950s.

Albert Ostermaier and a Lipizzaner, probably
Emperor Conversano Neapolitano, circa 1949.

Two of Ostermaier's Lipizzaners came from the estate of Winfield Sheehan. The North Hollywood Valley Times' 26 November 1948 edition reported that Florian himself was "owned now by Tim Holt, the screen actor. Two others are owned and trained by Albert Ostermaier in North Hollywood. The stallion is Emperor Conversano Neapolitano, now 10 years old. The colt, sired by Florian, is Maestoso Pluto Conversano, four years old and unbroken..." The article says Ostermeier trained his horses at the Fat Jones Ranch in North Hollywood.

I found one reference in print of Ostermaier performing with a Lipizzaner in Southern California during the time Maureen Love might have sketched and/or sculpted her Lipizzaner for Hagen-Renaker. That was at a 1954 horse show in Santa Barbara, about 110 miles from Monrovia. 

So I kept looking for other Lipizzaners that Maureen might have seen, closer to the time of the release of the Hagen-Renaker Lipizzaner.

Col. Alois Podhajsky and one of the Lipizzaners that toured
the East Coast of the United States.
Mount Vernon, NY Argus, 10 November 1950.

Actually, Maureen Love and H-R were ahead of their time, issuing a Lipizzaner in 1957. While the Spanish Riding School horses and riders from Vienna, led by Col. Alois Podhajsky, were performing on the East Coast of the US during the 1950s, I couldn't find any evidence they made it as far west as California. 

Col. Podhajsky’s popular book, and the popular Disney film “Miracle of the White Stallions,” didn’t come out until 1963. Robert Taylor played the part of Podhajsky in the film. He and co-star Eddie Albert were trained in dressage -- by Albert Ostermaier. 

Still image from the ending of Disney's 1963 feature film
"Miracle of the White Stallions."

I found another Lipizzaner performing in Southern California around the time of the release of the H-R Lipizzaner, that Maureen Love might have seen. His name was Pasha. He was owned by German-born actress, circus performer, and equestrian Cecilie “Cilly” Feindt (1909-1999). 

Cilly came to the United States in 1948, reportedly the first German artist allowed into the country after World War II. Accompanying Cilly were her mother, Pasha the Lipizzaner, and a groom. Cilly ended up living in Burbank, about 25 miles from Monrovia. Pasha and Cilly performed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles (25 miles from Monrovia) in 1955, and at the San Fernando Valley Fair at Devonshire Downs in Northridge (40 miles from Monrovia) in August 1956. And, as we’ve noted, the H-R Lipizzaner was issued in Spring 1957.

Cilly Feindt and Pasha perform the levade. 

Even though we may never know for sure, it is at least possible that Maureen saw Cilly Feindt and Pasha, and/or Albert Ostermaier and his Lipizzaners perform, inspiring her design of the Hagen-Renaker Lipizzaner, issued in 1957.

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Used copies of Felix Salten's book Florian, the Emperor's Stallion are usually available on eBay and Abe Books. You can read a summary of it here:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian:_The_Emperor%27s_Stallion

There's a short video of a segment of the 1940 film "Florian" on YouTube. It shows Robert Young riding the Lipizzaner stallion at the re-created Spanish Riding School in Vienna at MGM, interspersed with film of the Lipizzaners in Austria mentioned above. MGM was using a lot of white Not Lipizzaners for those long shots filmed on the sound stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGLAi_u1n8w

"Operation Cowboy," that resulted in the rescue of horses from the hands of the Nazis at the end of World War II, is well-documented here and elsewhere:

Elizabeth Letts' book The Perfect Horse:  https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Horse-Priceless-Stallions-Kidnapped/dp/034554482X/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=580633746180&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031175&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3765716050633490389&hvtargid=kwd-302081839395&hydadcr=22096_13323313&keywords=the+perfect+horse&qid=1693612387&sr=8-1

Mark Felton's Ghost Riders:  https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Riders-Operation-Cowboy-Mission/dp/1785785095/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3IUWA7SWJC6OD&keywords=operation+cowboy&qid=1693612436&sprefix=operation+cowboy%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-4

The 1963 Disney film "Miracle of the White Stallions" tells a fictionalized version of the rescue of the Lipizzaners. The horses are gorgeous. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_XDeZvyDIs

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Thanks to Melanie Teller for reminding me that the book Florian was written by Felix Salten.

And thanks, as always, to the staff at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, for allowing me to peruse their Army Remount archival collection.