A 1950s/1960s Color Phenomenon

While puttering with my ponies the other day, I got to wondering about the color on the original Hagen Renaker circus ponies.

The Head Up and Head Down circus ponies were produced in the fall of 1955 through the spring of 1956. Both have white bodies with black manes and tails, a very unusual color for horses.

As I thought, I realized that I could think of several other examples of this color, all from about the same time period as the Hagen Renaker circus ponies.

In 1959, Disney released the movie Sleeping Beauty with a prince who rode a carrot-loving mount named Samson.

 A still from the movie taken from Google Images.

Hagen Renaker released Samson along with characters from the movie in the spring of 1959 until the spring of 1960. The HR Samson is very hard to find and highly collectible. (Photo taken from Google Images.)

 My Samson cake topper.

Disney wasn't the only movie production company using a white horse with a black mane and tail. Ever watch Luno the White Stallion as a kid? I did! 

Still shots are difficult to find; this is the best quality one that I could find. (Google Images.)

The story of a boy named Tim who had a marble horse that could come alive and take him on adventures, it aired in the mid 1960s. Go here to watch an episode.

Other companies followed suit in releasing horses with white bodies and black manes and tails.

Several Japan manufacturers copied Hagen Renaker's Head Up pony and then created others to go with it. (I have yet to find a copy of HR's Head Down circus pony.)

I have no documentation for dates on these little horses, but they are about an inch and a half tall and made of a very hard rubberized plastic. I ran across them online and snagged them because they are circus ponies.

The Hartland Manufacturing Company also produced models in white with black manes and tails.

I could not find a date for this Hartland horse in my books, but the horse and rider sets began to be produced in the mid 1950s. (Google Images.)

The Hartland Arabian in the upper left was produced 1962-1964. (Google Images.)

As for Breyer, I do not know of any early models in this color. I have wondered if the alabaster color (white with grey mane and tail) was a more realistic rendering of the color. (Or is their charcoal color a reverse of the white with black?)

While there are some horses found in this color pattern, they are usually born black and as they mature, their color changes to all-white.

For example, most Lippizaner babies are born black and then grey out as they age. (Google Images))

A maturing Lippizaner showing the whiter dappled coat and the darker mane, tail, and legs. (Google Images.)

I am trying to figure out just where this 1950s-1960s phenomenon of mature white horses with black manes and tails began. Was it Hartland? Hagen Renaker or Disney? Or was it someone else? And why was it so popular?

I intend to keep looking, and if I find anything out, I will post it here.