Operation Cowboy
Hello, horse fans, and mystery fans, and especially horse mystery fans!
This week: during the final months of World War II, a courageous group of American, German and Cossack soldiers must band together to save the historic Lipizzaner horses from a hungry Russian army and desperate German forces. Will Operation Cowboy succeed?
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode. Please comment about the show. And please like and subscribe on all your favourite podcast aggregators!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I always learn something new on Horse Mysteries. I knew a little about the saving of the Lipizzaners from watching “Miracle of the White Stallions” on Disney’s Wonderful World of Color anthology series. That was probably my earliest exposure as a kid to World War 2 history. After hearing more about it on the podcast, I gave the movie a re-watch and found it told the story pretty well for a family movie. It didn’t go into the sad fate of the Cossacks who helped, but it did a good job of showing how risky the endeavor was and how much cooperation it took to save the horses. There’s a great line towards the end when Robert Taylor as Alois Podhajsky is in a plane looking down on all the horses being moved over the Czech border. “You don’t suppose they crossed the Lipizzan mares with other horses?” The pilot deadpans, “It’s been a long war.” Do you think horses know at some level when they’re on a movie set or in a circus or dressage ring that they are performing? Do they like to show off for audiences or are they just following orders?
Yes, definitely some horses like to go out and show off – our pony Harris is happiest at a horse show where he has lots to look at and lots of other horses and ponies around. He get bored riding at home but he doesn’t necessarily like a relaxing trail ride, so horse show it is for him. I’ve had other horses who are very much the opposite, though, and would rather avoid the bright lights of the big city. A bit like humans in that regard, I guess – they’re all different.