One of Hollywood’s most famous horses recently celebrated his 29th birthday. Spirit, the stunning dun Kiger mustang stallion who was the inspiration for the DreamWorks animated classic Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and the animated Netflix series Spirit: Riding Free, is now a healthy, happy senior citizen.
As we wrote in 2020, the animators at Dreamworks sought inspiration and needed a model to base their work on, so the company bought a colt for this purpose. This real Spirit, originally called Donner, was born to a wild stallion and mare that were rounded up in Oregon.
The Kiger Mustangs are known for their unique colouring and DNA connection to the original Spanish horses that arrived in North America in the 17th Century. The animators observed Spirit for years, learning everything they could about horse movement and behaviour so that they could bring life to their creation.
Once the film was completed, the movie studio found a permanent home for Spirit at Return to Freedom, a wild horse sanctuary in California. Spirit continues to reside at the sanctuary where he roams its 300 acres and is an ambassador for members of the public who visit to learn about mustangs.
You can watch videos of Spirit from his 25th birthday celebrations here.
We imagine there will be an even bigger party next year when the famous stallion turns 30!