The Heart of a Horse Story

The Heart of a Horse

“You occasionally see one, and it’s the thrill of a lifetime.  But mostly all you ever see is a cloud of dust after they are gone.  It’s their stubborn ability to survive that makes them so remarkable.” - Velma “Wild Horse Annie” Johnston

This painting was inspired by the story of a mustang stallion called Spirit and the heart of a horse who yearns for freedom. Read below for the story of Spirit.

Spirit is a Kiger Mustang stallion, whose original name was Donner.

His parents were captured by the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon.  This meant that Spirit was born in captivity.

He has beautiful colouring, wide-set eyes and a multicoloured thick mane and tail.

Spirit became famous because Dreamworks Animation chose him when he was a colt, to be a model for the animators working on a film called Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

They selected him because he was such a beautiful example of the Kiger Mustang breed.

The film tells the story of the old west “from the heart of a horse”. Spirit is a strong mustang who eventually becomes the leader of his herd.  He protects his mother and the other horses from danger.

But storms and mountain lions were nothing compared to a new type of predator that Spirit discovered in the hills.

One night Spirit comes across some chained up horses, and cowboys sleeping nearby.  When the men awoke and saw how magnificent Spirit was, they captured him and take him to a US Cavalry Fort.

Once there, Spirit meets ‘The Colonel’, who is mean and vicious.  He gives orders that Spirit must be tamed, however, Spirit resists all attempts to tame him.  The Colonel ties Spirit to a post without food or water for three days to weaken his spirit.  Once the stallion is weak enough, the Colonel sits on his back and boasts that any wild horse can be tamed.  Spirit finds the strength to throw him off, and in anger and humiliation the Colonel tries to shoot him.

However, a Lakota Native American, named Little Creek, who had also been brought to the fort and tied up, manages to escape and saves Spirit and they both escape from the fort.

They both meet up with Little Creek’s mare called Rain and the other natives, who decide to capture Spirit for themselves.

When they get to the Lakota village, Little Creek tries to tame Spirit by being kind to him but Spirit does not want to be tamed by anyone.  Little Creek ties Spirit to Rain to try and teach him to not be wild and Spirit falls in love with Rain.

Little Creek realises that Spirit will never be tamed and decided to let him go.  As Spirit is about to leave, the Colonel and his men storm the village, so Spirit turns back to help them.

The Colonel shoots Rain and she falls into the river.  The Colonel then tries to shoot Little Creek, but the stallion charges at the Colonel and his horse so that the shot misses.  He then tries to help Rain but they both go over the waterfall and Rain is injured.

They both survive the fall but the Cavalry capture Spirit again as he won’t leave Rain’s side.  They take Spirit and leave Rain to die.

Little Creek helps Rain and promises to free Spirit.

Spirit is forced to work on the railway pulling a steam train.  However, he sensed that the railroad was going to destroy his homeland and so he breaks free and frees the other horses.  As they escape there is an accident with one of the trains and it causes an explosion which sets the forest on fire.  Spirit becomes trapped as the chain around his neck gets caught on a fallen tree.  Luckily Little Creek saves him and they both jump in the river.The next day the Colonel and his men find Little Creek and Spirit and chase them through the Grand Canyon where they get trapped on one side of a gorge.  Spirit won’t give up and makes a jump that gets him to the other side of the gorge.  The Colonel is so amazed at the heart of the stallion that he accepts defeat.

Little Creek and Spirit return to the village to find that Rain is now better, so Little Creek sets them both free after naming the stallion, Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken.  Spirit and Rain return to reunite with his herd.

Story originally by Jeffrey Katzenberg