{"id":1259,"date":"2007-07-30T07:58:23","date_gmt":"2007-07-30T11:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2022-04-12T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T18:00:57","slug":"horses-at-walt-disney-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/horses-at-walt-disney-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Horses at Walt Disney World"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Teresa Pitman<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Walt Disney’s love for the “Iron Horse” \u2013 the train \u2013 is well-known, and there’s evidence of that affection in the trains we enjoy riding at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.\u00a0 But Walt also loved real flesh-and-blood horses \u2013 he was a skilled rider and an enthusiastic polo player – and evidence of that passion can still be seen at Walt Disney World.<\/p>\n

\"\"Recently Darcy Cormier, a horse-owner herself and the publicity representative for Fort Wilderness, took me on a tour of the WDW stables. All the horses at Walt Disney World live in the Tri-Circle-D Ranch at Fort Wilderness, which has two sections, one at the front of the resort where the trail rides depart, and the other near the boat docks. Visitors are welcome to tour the barns near the docks between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. There you’ll see a stall that has been converted to a small display, with photos of Walt and some of his horses and information about the equine population of WDW.<\/p>\n

The Ranch is home to several different breeds, including the large draft horses who pull the Magic Kingdom trolleys – black, grey and dapple Percherons, Belgians and Clydesdales.\u00a0 The horses used for the trail rides include Quarter Horses, Arabians, Paints, a few mixed breeds, a draft horse cross and one Gypsy Vanner. The pony herd (including the sets of white ponies who pull Cinderella’s coach)\u00a0is comprised of Shetlands and a few miniature horses.<\/p>\n

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(I’ve seen the white ponies pulling Cinderella’s carriage during the Christmas parade, but also saw them recently transporting a bride to her wedding at the Grand Floridian. They don’t move very quickly but I can’t imagine a more elegant way for a bride to arrive.)<\/p>\n

Even devoted horse lovers might not have recognized one of those breeds. Bon Jara is the Gypsy Vanner\u00a0gelding who came to live at Tri-Circle D Ranch when he was just ten months old. He was added to the herd\u00a0to showcase this unusual breed which is rarely encountered in America.\u00a0This European breed\u00a0is a small draft-style horse, black or brown and white in colour, with long manes and tails and long hair on their lower legs (called feathers). They’re also known for their wonderful temperament. Bon Jara is\u00a0currently\u00a0used on trail rides.<\/p>\n

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While the trail ride horses stay in Fort Wilderness, the others need to be moved to the Magic Kingdom or other locations for their assignments. To accomplish this, the Tri-Circle-D Ranch uses several different types of\u00a0horse trailers, including a custom designed and\u00a0built aluminum 5th wheel designed with three 8X8x28 stalls that can be used to transport up to 3 draft horses or 6 ponies or some combination. (And that’s a BIG horse trailer!)<\/p>\n

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that at the\u00a0Tri-Circle-D Ranch, the\u00a0health and happiness of the horses is top priority. Darcy Cormier explained to me that not only\u00a0are their veterinary needs catered to, but also their emotional well-being.\u00a0 For example, the trail horses are broken up into smaller herds or “strings” of approximately 6 horses.\u00a0 Each small\u00a0herd lives and works together to maintain the naturally occurring hierarchy of the animals \u2013 something that is very important to horses.\u00a0\u00a0The horses are fed on a strictly regulated feeding regime that was developed by the head Animal Nutritionist for WDW, who also oversees the feeding of \u00a0Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s more than 1000 exotic animals.<\/p>\n

And of course, where there are horses there is horse manure. The manure spreaders\u00a0found at most\u00a0local farms are not used at WDW; instead the manure is collected and transported to a facility where it, along\u00a0with other organic material from all over WDW property (including Disney’s Animal Kingdom) is combined and transformed into compost.\u00a0 In 2006, over 3,000 tons of manure was sent to the compost facility, and about 50,000 pounds of compost are produced daily.<\/p>\n

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I asked Darcy how the horses are taught to behave so calmly in crowds and when confronted by giant mice and tigers that walk on two legs. Her answer: “Training, training, training.” She added that guests should not pat the horses (including the horses pulling the trolleys) because, just like guide dogs or other service animals, the horses are working and shouldn’t be distracted.<\/p>\n

You’ve probably encountered the horses who work in the Magic Kingdom, but there are many other opportunities for a little “equine interaction” at WDW, including:<\/p>\n