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Dec 4, 2017 · Traveler IX succeeds Traveler VII, who retired after 14 years of loyal service. The 25-year-old pure Spanish Andalusian loved entertaining and even knew when it was show time: While waiting in the tunnel in between touchdowns, he could identify the difference between a goal and a first down by the sound of the crowd and the Trojan Marching Band.
- 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 ...
He’s a USC icon and is definitely one of the most famous and beloved horses in the world! A beautiful white horse whose story has become the stuff of legends. We’re referring, of course, to Traveler. And in this program we not only see him in action, but spend some time with him during his “off-season” at home.
Aug 23, 2017 · 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 Tirebiter’s legacy. After a contentious 800-518 vote by the student body, a ...
After his passing in 1992, his wife Patricia continued the tradition of raising and training the famous Traveler® horses until she retired following the 2002 season. She asked Joanne Asman to take over with her own Traveler® 7 in 2003. The current Trojan mascot is Traveler® IX, a beautiful Andalusian gelding.
Jul 25, 2018 · Traveler, the noble white horse that appears at all USC home football games with a regal Trojan warrior astride, is one of the most famous college mascots. Traveler first made an appearance at USC football games in 1961 (in the home opener versus Georgia Tech). Bob Jani, then USC’s director of special events, and Eddie Tannenbaum, then a ...
Oct 4, 2018 · The downfield runs by Traveler IX, the 10-year-old Spanish Andalusian horse and USC mascot, are only the most visible aspect of what happens on game days with the animal and his handlers.
