Flip to Poster for "Dan Rice's Great Show," including the "Sixth Appearance of M'le Ella Zoyara," Philadelphia, PA, March 1860.Close Window
Credit: Courtesy of the Shelburne Museum, Vermont
In 1850, Dan Rice paid $200 and a horse for a snow white Kentucky stallion. "Excelsior" went on to become one of the most remarkable horses in circus history. After entering the circus tent posing rock steady on a platform born on the shoulders of ten men, "the animal with a soul" would jump rope "with the precision of a school girl," shoot a pistol by tugging a rope, appear to converse with ringmaster Rice, and in a fabulous finale, walk up and down steps. After Excelsior died, Rice replaced him with a blind white horse, "Excelsior Jr." who was soon performing many of the same tricks.
