''The Horse with the Flying Tail'' is a 1960 American documentary film by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, that won the Best Documentary award at the 33rd Academy Awards. The movie is about the

palomino Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called t ...

horse,

Nautical Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...

, who won the team gold medal at the 1959

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. It was released theatrically on a double bill with ''

Swiss Family Robinson ''The Swiss Family Robinson'' (German: ''Der Schweizerische Robinson'') is a novel by Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson, Australia, goes off course and is shipwreck ...

'', and was later broadcast on ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'' in 1964. The movie portrays this horse as having been a nondescript

stock horse A stock horse is a horse of a type that is well suited for working with livestock, particularly cattle. The related cow pony or cow horse is a historic phrase, still used colloquially today, referring to a particularly small agile cattle-herdin ...

, however, he was sired by an

American Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at s ...

named Muchacho de Oro out of an Army Remount

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

of mostly

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

breeding. This horse's registered name was ''Pelo de Oro'', which was given to him at birth. He became an open jumper and was shown in the national

horse show A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer fo ...

circuit in the United States. Open jumpers compete for scores based on faults (if a jump is refused or a rail knocked down) and time elapsed to complete the course. Prior to his Olympic fame, he had a reputation as a temperamental jumper who was inclined to stop at water-and-ditch jumps. Such ''refusals'' would disqualify a jumper from an event. His

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

among competitors was ''"Sneaky Pete"'' for those reasons. He was an excellent jumper (when willing), however, and when he cleared a fence, Sneaky Pete consistently would raise his tail in the characteristic fashion shown in the photograph displayed from the film. That uplifted tail, raised so high, was repeated by the horse for each faultless jump and spectators at

s relied upon this signal from the horse to record his scores, without waiting for the results from the judges. Hence the title of the film about his career. When he was obtained by Hugh Wiley, Wiley enlisted the help of the

United States Equestrian Team The United States Equestrian Team (USET) refers to the American national teams in Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines of horse sport. US Equestrian, the governing body of horse sport in the United States, selects, trains and funds the teams. The O ...

coach, Bertalan de Nemethy, and together the two men trained the horse to be the Olympic-level open jumper he became. "Sneaky Pete" then became known as "Nautical" and was ridden regularly by members of the U. S. Equestrian Team in international competitions.Benz, Kafi, ''How Sneaky Pete became Nautical - the horse with the flying tail became famous after being trained by Bertalan de Némethy and Hugh Wiley'', Seagate Press, Sarasota, Florida, 1991.

References

External links

The Horse with the Flying Tail
at the ''

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'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horse with the Flying Tail 1960 films Films about horses 1960s English-language films American documentary films Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners Horse sports in film 1960 documentary films Disney documentary films 1959 Pan American Games Equestrian at the Pan American Games Walt Disney Pictures films Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by William Lava Documentary films about horses Palomino horses 1960s American films

See also

References

External links