The name of the horse is Cass Ole. He was a pure bred Arabian Stallion. He was foaled in 1969 and died in 1993.
Originally bred to be a show horse, he was National Champion in Arabian Western Pleasure in 1975, National Reserve Champion Arabian Ladies Side Saddle in 1976, and U.S. Top Ten Arabian English Pleasure in both 1975 and 1976. He won over 50 championships and over 20 Reserve Championships in his seven-year show career and was high point winner of the King Saud Trophy of the American Horse Show Association.
Horse trainers Glen Randall and his sons J.R. and Corky Randall began their international search for an Arabian to play The Black in the upcoming film. They found Cass Ole at his ranch in San Antonio, and his temperament and beauty suited him for the role. His owners stipulated that he was not to be used in the running or swimming scenes, so three other horses were obtained for use in those shots, as well as for stunts. Cass Ole and his fellow horse actors trained at a California ranch for several weeks before filming began. He had sessions with boy actor Kelly Reno so the two could become familiar and used to working together. Cass Ole was not a solid black horse; he had white markings on his pasterns and a white star on his forehead which were dyed black for his screen time.
After the two films had been released Cass Ole became a celebrity, showing up to be admired at fundraisers and special events. In 1980 he won the Humane Society Award for The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals at the International Horse Show in Washington, D.C. He visited the White House and was present at the Inauguration of President Reagan. He performed before audiences in Italy, Sardinia, Algeria, and Morocco. He stood at stud at his home ranch in Texas, siring over 130 foals. None of them grew up to match his success.
Cass Ole was euthanized in 1993 after suffering severe colic.
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apache1701
18 years ago
Er... correction... Cass Olé played the Black... he did not play the chestnut animal ridden by Raj. Thanks for the bio, though... we should petition IMDb to add Cass Olé to the recognized credits... I know that the first time I saw the name, it was in the credits to one or the other of these two movies; that was how I knew to look up the name in the first place, but now I can't seem to find it. He should be credited.
Rin-tin-tin gets a credit. So does Higgins (better known as Benji), and Lassie. Happy gets credited too (Seventh Heaven). They clearly don't have a particular policy against crediting animal actors.
In general, even people who aren't listed in the credits in a movie still get mentioned on here if they were in the film. I don't see why Cass Olé shouldn't get one.
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