Gunrock is the official mascot of the
UC Davis Aggies
The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis.
Seventeen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's ...
. He is named after Gun Rock, who was born in 1914 and was the offspring of
English Triple Crown winner
Rock Sand
Rock Sand (1900–1914) was a British Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a career which lasted from the spring of 1902 until October 1904 he ran twenty times and won sixteen races. He was a leading British two-year-old of his generation, ...
and race mare Gunfire. His bloodlines are similar to those of
racehorse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
Man O' War
Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...
. In 1921, he was brought by the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...
to the campus of
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...
, which was
breeding
Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant.
Breeding may refer to:
* Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and r ...
horses for the Cavalry at the time. In 1924, he was adopted as the official
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
of the men's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team and accompanied the team to games and rallies. Later, a traditional mascot was created and named Gunrock by the students. That mascot persisted into the 1970s, when he was replaced by ''Ollie the Mustang''. Ollie did not last long, as a period of confusion about the school's mascot and nickname set in, lasting into the first
decade
A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years.
Usage
Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...
of the 21st century. In 2003, after the school's official mascot was officially identified as the mustang, the name ''Gunrock'' returned.
https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/whats-gunrock-name-100-years-historyReferences
Horse mascots[{{Cite web , url=https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/whats-gunrock-name-100-years-history , title=What's in the Gunrock name? 100 years of history , date=19 February 2014 ]
UC Davis Aggies