Wonder Horse – A remarkable true story

Wonder Horse is a true story about a boy and his amazing little horse. Neither had a fancy pedigree or refinement but they overcame many trials and failures through character, perseverance, and determination – to finally taste the sweetness of greatness. It is also about an extraordinary family and the power of relationships, though flawed, to accomplish the impossible.
This is a true “underdog” story of stamina for the vision. It includes humor, healing and personal redemption.

By Dr. Henry Falany

I am trying here to be a very brief version – So here goes.
In my pre-teen and teenage days back in the ‘50s, I was immersed in several books by Walter Farley, about The Black Stallion. In 1979, Disney made a movie by that name. The Black Stallion and his mighty son, Satan, were the focus of a series of books which made them the most famous fictional horses in history. The books were all about a young boy from nowhere, and his horse from the same place, who, of course, won “the big one.”
SON OF THE BLACK STALLION
When I was fourteen, living on a small farm near Turlock, California, I’d saved up some money and for $90, I bought a small, homely little colt. I named him Satan, after Walter Farley’s fictional horse. Even though Satan was small and unsightly, I dreamed of him being my mighty son of the Black Stallion.
Well, early on it became very evident that the little ugly guy could jump. Even as a baby, he sailed over the corral fence like a deer. My folks were country folks, but not horsemen. Dad grew up in the south walking behind a mule at times (plowing) but that was about it. Therefore, I had to teach myself how to train Satan. So, I bought a set of pamphlets about training horses and started in.
As Satan grew, I taught him to lunge on a line. That means the horse runs or walks in a circle around you, on a twenty-five foot rope. Because he was so inclined to jump, I would put make-shift obstacles or jumps in his circle. He would usually sail right over them without hesitation. By the time he was a yearling, I had him jumping more than five feet high.
As Satan matured to riding age, I broke him to ride and he became my mountain and trail horse. He only grew up to a height of 14.2 hands, which is barely bigger than a large pony. He was heavily-muscled and large-boned, with great big feet. His ears and head resembled a mule, and like a mule, he was smart and strong-headed. At times you could see him staring at you and reading your mind. His disposition was a combination of ornery and sweet. He decided which, and when.
Now over the next few years I tried everything I could think of to make a champion out of him. I knew he could jump anything in the arena. But I had to use other riders because I was too big and heavy for competition jumping. They were all decent riders but none of them were trained to show and they did not know English riding. So in my own “green horn” state of experience I trained them the best I could. But the end result was always the same – disaster! Satan would jump but there was always something wrong with the rider or we broke the rules or there was a wreck or something. It was year after year of failure and frustration.
Now jumping a lot of the story here – no pun intended – when Satan was nine years old, my youngest brother Robin was fourteen years old. Robin was a good rider, but had never really excelled in competitive sports, like the rest of the Falanys.
Between swimming, baseball, football, boxing and horse sports other than jumping, we are all champions. Robin was the only exception. He was also dyslexic, which was an unknown condition at the time, and it all began to have serious effects on his personal esteem. He began pulling away from the family and running with the wrong crowd. Mom and Dad did all they could to intervene – and we had a praying grandma.
Then “by coincidence,” a very well-known horse trainer set up a horse-training and riding academy in Turlock. He was a western horseman himself, but he taught English and jumping as well as Western.
So, with my folks’ agreement, I talked to him about my horse who could jump – and my little brother’s issues, but, who could “ride the hair off a horse.” He agreed to meet them both, and when he did, he was shocked when he first laid eyes on Satan. Hunters and jumpers are usually tall, leggy, thoroughbred-type horses with lots of pedigree and refinement. Satan was none of the above. The trainer was discouraged and he showed it.
“But,” he stuttered, “while they’re here, let’s see what they can do.” He took us to a training arena where he had what I call “kiddie jumps” set up. After having the duo go over the jumps, and having raised the bar several times, he shook his head and quipped, “Henry, I’ve never seen anything like it!” He had the bar up to only about 3 ½ feet, but what he saw was how effortlessly Satan and Robin went over it.
He decided the two of them were worth a try, but he cautioned us about how tough the competition would be, and that it would take two years to get them both ready to compete.
Jumping a lot of story again, a mere two months later and on their very first competition, Robin and Satan won the open jumpers event in a large show in Stockton, California. It blew everyone’s mind. A fourteen-year-old kid on an ugly little horse, from a family who looked like the Beverly Hillbillies, had just beaten all the pros on their champion thoroughbreds. The high-class and high-falutin’ folks were flabbergasted!
That was just the beginning. Robin and Satan went on to compete all over the state. They competed and won high honors in places like the San Francisco’s Cow Palace, Cal Expo (California State Fair) and Santa Barbara shows. Satan either won or was the horse to beat, everywhere they went.
Many times the crowd would laugh when the duo entered the arena because they thought they were a clown act. But as soon as they went into action many times folks would jump to their feet in excitement.
Satan began to get a following of folks coming to the shows, just to watch the little underdog take it to the big boys. Equine sportswriters started writing news articles about “Satan the Wonder Horse,” or “The Little Black Horse with the Big Feet That Wouldn’t Say No.” At times, we even witnessed the competition cheering for Satan because what he was doing was so impossible.
In Robin’s senior year of high school, he and Satan won some of the biggest shows in the country. But we’re not going to give you all the details here, because we don’t want to spoil the movie for you. Suffice it to say that by the time Robin graduated from high school, not only had he and Satan set records that still stand today – fifty years later – but also, Robin had earned a higher achievement of glory than all the other athletic champions in the Falany family.
I retired Satan from jumping soon after that, and we went back to our mountains and trails, jumping the fences and logs, and anything else that got in our way. He and I rode many a mile together, and he lived to a ripe old age of almost thirty.
Now, with the help of our very good friend, Mary Huckstep who is a published, award-winning author, script doctor, and screenwriter, we are finishing up a movie script and then following with a book.
Again, this is a story of a boy and his horse where fiction becomes reality – a story of perseverance – a story of family working together, passion and overcoming – a story of personal healing for Robin – a story with humor – and most of all, it is a true underdog story.
It will be a family friendly film with a spiritual influence, portraying a powerful message that encourages people to believe that with heart and perseverance, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish.
We will tell the horse’s real name and its origin in the book and the movie, but for obvious reasons we are changing the name in the title to just Wonder Horse.
We believe that the time for Wonder Horse is NOW.
This story excites us, as we hope it does you.
So, as Roy Rogers used to say,
“May the good Lord take a likin’ to ya!”
Happy Trails!!