Posted by Ms. Virginia Smith
on October 27, 2007, 12:24 pm
72.153.89.236
I was doing a little research into the background of my long-deceased father, former Rear Admiral turned California PR guy, James MacDonald Smith who resided in California, ( Long Beach, Napa Valley, Sacramento) during the fifties. They as a couple then were rather high profile, as I'd seen from the old photos of them at very lavish social functions, and casual poses taken at their home with many movie stars of the day. And both were accomplished equestrians. My father used to put on a one- horse one -man shows in larger arenas and parades riding "Silver" who he'd purchased shortly after ? show no longer in shooting or, a second "silver" replaced him. Our family lost those photos years ago, but I can tell you that my mother, who was no "storyteller" by any means, had informed us correctly as to the claim that my father's horse had been "Silver".( Also I seem to recall that my mother had told us that "silver's" real name was Saracen or Sarazen.) In those old pictures, the horse and my father demonstrated jumps,"sit", "shake hooves", the signature rearing, kneeling on front legs,play dead, etc., all the moves expected of a highly trained Hollywood trick horse, my father in his Navy dress whites, "silver" very smart in his trade mark silver-studded black bridle, breastplate and saddle.And my mother had even saved a newspaper clipping of an ad Clayton Moore had done for Schwinn, with he standing next to a split-rail fence, bicycle at his side.( A little post-show humor it would seem.)
Anyway, in looking up facts related to my father's life, I found your site, and there seemed to be uncertainty expressed as to what had actually happened to "Silver" later on.
-Oh! I also remember my ( also now long deceased )mother having told us that during a parade, another horse had kicked and injured "Silver", forcing his retirement.However, my mother recalled him fondly despite his exit from the spotlight, and said they enjoyed helping him recuperate from his injury, walking him in the surf daily to help strengthen his injured knee.And they kept him until they moved back to Pennsylavania in the late fifties.
I hope some of you benefit from this info. And I hope it helps clear up some of the "Silver" confusion.-( By the way, I'd also inherited the horse-lover gene
!
Have a good iSmith, Fort Lauderdale Fla.
writenow1@care2.com
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