Horsing around – A Horse is a horse of course, of course.

Do you remember the Mr. Ed show? That was one of my favorites, so silly and fun to watch. Mr. Ed was the beloved talking horse of the clumsy, peculiar architect Wilbur Post. The sitcom ran from 1961 to 1966 on CBS.

Mysterious masked man – Hi-Yo Silver Away!
Before Mr. Ed, and my time, were the Lone Ranger and his famous horse Silver! Tonto, a Native American Indian, nursed the Texas Ranger back to health. They traveled around the west fighting injustice. The famous “Hi-Yo Silver!” shout at the beginning of each episode is a recording of Earle W. Graser, who played the Lone Ranger on radio from 1933-1941. This sit com ran from 1949 to 1957 on ABC. Reruns ran on various networks through 1961.

Of course, when speaking of the Wild West shows we cannot omit Beauty, Adam Cartwright’s horse in the hit show Bonanza. Or Gunsmoke, with Buck being the famous horse of Marshall Dillon.

Horse collectables were very popular in the 50s and 60s. I can only assume that the many western themed television sitcoms inspired this popularity. My neighbor friend had a huge collection of famous horses, including Mr. Ed, Silver, Scout, the Budweiser Clydesdales, and Black Beauty to name a few. She even took riding lessons and bought equestrian clothing.