MARCH/APRIL 2012 THE RIDER /23
Equine Guelph forges partnership with Mirvish Productions and War Horse to promote Horse Welfare Fund
By Glenda Fordham, Toronto
There’s probably not one single person in the horse community who hasn’t heard about War Horse – the book, the multi-award winning play or the recent Steven Spiel- berg movie. Gayle Ecker, Director of Equine Guelph (University of Guelph, Ontario) had certainly heard about War Horse so she quickly got busy with her team to create an excit- ing fundraising partnership with the Ontario Equestrian Federation (OEF) and Mirvish Productions that will also raise public awareness of equine wel- fare during the play’s run at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto.
“I was visiting Lon- don last Christmas and one evening, we walked past one of the west end the- atres just as the audience was leaving. The crowd was unusually quiet, many were wiping their eyes, some turned up their coat collars to hide tear-stained faces. What was going on, I wondered,” Ecker recalls. “I looked up and saw the
War Horse Canadian Cast 2012. Photo by Brinkhoff / Mögenburg
War Horse and Mirvish Productions. To order your tickets, call 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333 and make sure you provide this special benefit code: WHFUND.
Stafford, in association with Handspring Puppet Company.
Joey (Brad Cook, Bryan Hindle, Caden Douglas) and Emilie (Addison Holley) War Horse Canadian cast 2012. Photo by Brinkhoff/ Mögenburg
giant marquee that said ‘War Horse’. I’d heard about the play but didn’t realize the emotional impact it had on theatre goers.”
As soon as she returned home to Canada, Ecker got in touch with Chris Dorscht, the Senior Marketing Manager at Mirvish Productions with an interesting proposal that would have far-reaching results for Canada’s horses. In a recent interview, Toronto producer, David Mirvish was quoted as say- ing “The War Horse Toronto production brings back into the spotlight the welfare issues that faced millions of horses in the First World War. Recog- nizing the ongoing need for equine welfare awareness and education,“ he contin- ued, “we are pleased to partner with Equine Guelph and the Ontario Equestrian Federation to create the ‘Equine Guelph- OEF War Horse Welfare Education Fund’ in honour of those brave horses and to develop courses that
teach horse care and wel- fare to future champions of the horse. Through educa- tion, we hope to help Equine Guelph in their admirable quest of helping horses for life.”
To celebrate this ground-breaking partner- ship, on Thursday March 8, members and friends of OEF and Equine Guelph packed the Princess of Wales Theatre to enjoy a cocktail reception, see the play and enjoy a special post-performance meet-n- greet with cast members, puppeteers and the horse stars of the play, Joey and Topthorn. In attendance were Equine Guelph’s council chairs Dean Eliza- beth Stone and Al Patter- son, their inspired Director Gayle Ecker and Guelph’s Research Committee Chair Dr. Jeff Thomason, who were also joined by Mirvish Productions Senior Marketing Manager, Chris Dorscht.
The new Fund will benefit from the generous donation of $10 from each and every ticket purchased by OEF members for all War Horse performances up to May 6th, courtesy of
Produced by The National Theatre of Great Britain, National Angels, Bob Boyett and David Mirvish, War Horse is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpur- go and adapted by Nick
Through the incredi- ble life-sized horse puppets created by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones of Hand- spring Puppet Company, War Horse transports the audience back to the gen- teel English countryside of the early 20th century then to the horror of the WWI western front. Horses have always been an integral part of warfare, and in 1914-18, they were used as mounts for the cavalry and for hauling guns, munitions and supplies to and from the trenches. We know that conditions for the human troops were appalling but the horses fared even worse with little care given to their physical or mental wellbeing. Although they were invaluable to the war effort on both sides, horses were also considered dis- posable and millions suf- fered violent and inhumane ends. Of the approximate one million horses sent into war from Great Britain alone, only 60,000 are reported to have returned to their British owners alive. War Horse tells the story of Joey, a young
Distraught at the thought of losing his best friend and disappointed in his father’s willingness to part with Joey for one hun- dred pounds, Albert runs away and enlists. He is soon in uniform and head- ing over to the front lines, hoping against all odds to find his beloved horse and bring him home safely. Needless to say, it is rec- ommended that you take plenty of Kleenex with you into the theatre but fortu- nately for those of us in the theatre March 8th, we were presented with complimen- tary tissue packages, some- thing for which this writer was very grateful as the tears flowed freely in the emotionally-charged clos- ing moments of the play. You would have to have ice in your veins not to be moved by the story, especially knowing that it is based on fact. WWI was the first full-scale war in which modern weapons inflicted mass slaughter. Long-range artillery, rapid- fire machine guns, poison gas, flamethrowers, tanks and airplanes that bombed and strafed introduced new kinds of terror and record
Topthorn (Brendan J. Rowland, Adam Cunningham, Sean C. Robertson) and Joey (Brad Cook, Bryan Hindle, Caden Douglas) War Horse Canadian cast 2012. Photo by Brinkhoff / Mögenburg
Hunter colt who was pur- chased at an auction as a dare, instead of a plough- horse that was needed to help with the Narracott farm. The colt is befriended by farm boy Albert and a tight bond is formed between the two. When Joey is “conscripted” into the British armed forces in the early days of the war,
the play follows him as he gallops across the battle- fields, surviving many a cavalry charge and passing through different hands on either side of the battle lines until coming face-to- face with giant mechanical war machines (the newly invented battle tank), barbed wire and certain death…..well, almost!
levels of suffering and death. It was the bloodiest conflict the world has ever seen and horses were front and centre.
Thankfully, we do not send our horses into war any more but there is still much suffering and neglect in the horse world today. With over 16 inten- sive online equine courses dedicated to horse owners and caregivers, Equine Guelph understands the need for horse welfare edu- cation that will result in well-informed caregivers, healthier horses, lower vet bills and fewer unwanted horses. Please visit
www.EquineGuelph.ca for more information.
Tophorn meets the audience. Photo by Glenda Fordham Gayle Ecker, Equine Guelph Director. Photo by Glenda Fordham
And remember to get your tickets to War Horse before May 6th so you can help support the Equine Guelph-OEF War Horse Welfare Education Fund. Don’t forget, call 416-872- 1212 or 1-800-461-3333 and make sure you mention the special code WHFUND when placing your order.
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