'Harmony on Horseback' depicts Elvis riding his favorite horse, Rising Sun.
Photography: Reeves International Inc./Breyer
By Elizabeth Kay McCall
From the July 2012 issue of Cowboys and Indians magazine
(now on newstands)
Elvis Presley at Graceland riding Rising Sun
“We discovered that Elvis was a horse fan. It’s not something many people know about him,” says Kathleen Fallon, vice-president of communications for Reeves International, Breyer’s parent company. “It’s been fun to learn about the early days at Graceland from Priscilla [Presley] and how they came to have horses,” says Fallon, who traveled to Graceland and visited the actual stables as plans for the collection were developed.
Meanwhile, Breyer has added more items to its Elvis collection: a musical jewelry box depicting the King of Rock-and-Roll and his horses that features a small model of Rising Sun twirling to the tune “G.I. Blues” and a traditional portrait model of Elvis’ beloved Bear. For the holidays, a set of porcelain ornaments features both Rising Sun and Bear, with Elvis in the saddle.
“Bear was another of Elvis’ favorite horses,” says Kevin Kern, director of public relations for Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. “There is some home movie footage of Elvis riding Bear.” Interestingly, the gaited black horse Elvis named Bear was not necessarily a Tennessee Walking Horse, as many believe. “The receipt for that horse says American Saddlebred, but I don’t know,” says Graceland’s stable supervisor Alene Alexander. “In this area [of the country] there’s a term they use all the time called a ‘saddle horse’ — that’s a walking horse that hits what they call a saddle gait, which is nothing more than a square pace, and a square pace is a smooth ride.” So while Bear’s conformation and movement looked like a walking horse, the paperwork indicates otherwise.
Paperwork aside, it’s the horses we love to collect.