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Traveler is a horse who is the mascot of the University of Southern California. Traveler appears at all USC home football games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as well as many other outdoor events, including numerous Rose Parades. The current horse is Traveler IX.
- 1961
- Pac-12
- University of Southern California
- The Coliseum
- Previous Mascots
- Introduction
- Riders
- Different Horses
Until it was renovated in the 1990s, the Coliseum included an Olympic running track going around the football field. This proved to be useful for Traveler, who would gallop around the track after every USC score and pump up the crowd. Once the track was removed, Traveler still made its way around the field but had to move cautiously to avoid people...
Before Traveler, USC used another mascot, a series of canines known as George Tirebiter. There had also been several previous, unofficial horse mascots making appearances on USC sidelines since 1927, but none were permanent. The idea for the current mascot began during the 1961 Rose Parade, when a USC events director spotted Richard Saukko and his ...
Traveler was introduced in the autumn of 1961, during the USC Trojans football team's home opener at the Coliseum, against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. To dress Saukko as a Trojan warrior, USC used its connections to the film industry to procure the costume worn by Charlton Heston in Ben Hur two years earlier. The costume proved to be too heavy...
After Saukko retired from riding the horse in 1988, his family continued to provide the successive horses acting as Traveler until 2002. All of Saukko's successors as rider have been USC alumni, including Cass Dabbs, Rick Oas, Tom Nolan, Ardeshir Radpour, Brent Dahlgren, and current riders Chuck O'Donnell and Hector Aguilar.[citation needed]
Several horses have been "Traveler" over the years, of breeds ranging from Tennessee Walking horses, to Arabian horses and some crossbred animals. The current mascot, Traveler IX, is a purebred Andalusian horse, owned by Joanne Asman. An eighth Traveler was in training, but according to a post on the Spirit of TroyFacebook account, Traveler 8 died ...
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Aug 19, 2017 · Aug. 18, 2017 5:27 PM PT. When Richard Saukko galloped his chalk-white Arabian horse named Traveler around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum almost 56 years ago, it was supposed to be a...
- nathan.fenno@latimes.com
- Staff Writer
Aug 23, 2017 · Thrown into the spotlight, Traveler bears a storied history. By ALLEN PHAM. August 23, 2017. USC was at a standstill. “Tirebiter is dead!” read the Daily Trojan’s front page headline on September 20, 1950. It was only three years after the beloved canine was crowned USC’s official mascot. For eight days, students questioned George ...
Apr 25, 2019 · USC's mascot Traveler is one of the greatest traditions in college football. Ryan Abraham Apr 25th, 2019, 1:27 PM 11 Traveler VII in the Coliseum (Photo: USCFootball.com, 247Sports)
- Ryan Abraham
Dec 4, 2017 · The famous white horse is one of the country’s most recognizable college mascots and has appeared at USC football games since 1961. For the 2017 football season, USC welcomed the debut of Traveler IX, who kicked off the season at the opening game against Western Michigan.
Nov 21, 2015 · In spite of a widely circulated version of the story that basically portrays them as hillbillies, the people of Arkansas reclaimed the legend and embraced the traveler as a symbol of their state.
