Sunday, October 29, 2006

Bertram Mills' Circus Equestrians #4


"The Cumberlands Riding Act with Wensel Kossmayer, the Bakers including Maisy and the Yelding brothers with their one sister Dolly".

Posted by Buckles at 10/29/2006 05:04:00 AM

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to see the great horse trainer Wensel Kossmayer as part of a riding act group. I saw photos in a picture book on English cicuses and the beautiful liberty photos of he and horses. I also note that his son Douglas was quite a versitile horse man and worked and trained with some of Europe and Britain's great circus equestrian families. I believe he did a great "Courier of St. Petersburg". Iguess that is how it would be referred to.

29 October, 2006 11:35
Anonymous said...

I don't know if you ever had the pleasure of meeting John Gindl...... Mills head horse trainer, He joined Mills in 1931. He was in charge of all the "house" horse trainers including Kurt Debrow, Nadia Houcke, Phyllis Allen, Ares DeWitt, Roy Holt, Norman Barrett, I am sure many more trainers but these are the ones that I know.

Douglas Kossmayer did the Courier of St. Petersburg at Olympia one winter season as part of the Schumann acts.

The following year Norman did it as Ben Hur and had nine horses in the act.

29 October, 2006 17:48
Anonymous said...

Is this the same Nadia Houcke who presented Horse Fantasy Review with John Cuneo?

29 October, 2006 20:54
Buckles said...

We had a Halloween Party for all the kids last night (Stormy's infant Michael 15 mos. has been temporarily added to our collection) and in all my haste I think I may have mistakenly deleted a statement.
I'm sure there was an answer to Rebecca's question regarding Nadia Houcke but I don't see it.

30 October, 2006 07:20
Anonymous said...

I never did have the opportunity of meeting Mr. Gindl but I have known and heard about him over the years not only with horses but zebras and othr exotics and I believe elephants as well. He must have been really a great trainer. I do recall when I was doing some training in the ring barn down in Venice that the show bought an eight horse chestnut colored liberty act from Billy Smart circus and was told that john Gindl had trained it. I watched as Wolfgang Holzmeir rehearsed it and it was a very good act with excellent routine far above the average and Wolfgang worked them very well. Unfortunately they good caught up in the beauracratic BS of Ringling and didn't last very long. Gunther added two of them to a black and white checkerboard act that I had sold the show and from there went who knows where. Typical of so many liberty acts that I have seen go the same way there. I even recall telling the powers that be to not sell or brake up a number of horse and pony acts as they were very useful for the show as to their act,good in spec, etc. but the word never filtered down. Each time I would leave and then come back I would find that to be the case. As Jimmy Durante said "everbody wants to get in the act" and that is so true with RBBB. Even the Veterinarians of late have been hiring trainers, discarding animals and this practice has been discouraging for some of the few really good trainers they have had and allowed to get away. Now they have some guy of dubious credentials as a zoologist writing a paper on the proper way to train and handle elephants when Rinling bonafide elephant trainers have been tops in the field for well over one hundred years and that great knowledge has been passed down thru the generations. I hope Joe Frisco can survive all these problems he will be facing. Well enough of that I guess I have rattled on long enough. Too bad Ringling doesn't have, or maybe do not want a John Gindl to straighten out their mess.

30 October, 2006 09:39
Anonymous said...

Certainly the Nadia Houcke you refer to would I assume to be one and the same person but I recall working on dates with the horse fantasy and a good looking American girl presented th act with John and then Herta who did an admirable job of riding High School. I don't recall Nadia Houcke but it could very well be. Only John would know. I recall one year in Indianapolis when Castle and the Shriners insisted I break my twelve pony liberty into two sixes for a three ring display with John's act in the center. Sure enough my six decided to join Mary Ruth's six right in the middle of the display and right thru the middle ring with John very busy doing high school liberty, stop and go, big and little. I had stallions and so did John. What a mess and if you know John you can imagine his reaction. I was quite pleased when they scratched my ponies from that display for the rest of the engagement, as was John. I tried to tell them when I made the contract and I did get paid. We had elephants and other stuff there as well.

30 October, 2006 11:17
Anonymous said...

Nadia Houcke would be one of a very famous European family of animal trainers. Notably Gilbert Houcke with tigers, Sacha Houcke who has been here as a fine all around trainer with Ringling and his daughter Sara and her sister. I believe Sacha's father was also a very versatile trainer and am sure there are others that I am not aware of. I believe that Arther Konyot and Albert Ostermair played a role in developing that horse display. It was good and very audience pleasing but had alot of props and needed extra help getting everything in and out of the ring. A prop bosses nightmare.

30 October, 2006 11:27
Anonymous said...

I did answer Rebecca's question last night. She is correct Nadia Houcke did work for John Cuneo for a short time.

At one time she was with the GSOE when they were still under canvas.

She is the sister to Maurice & Sacha Houcke both known for their horse training, and other brother Gilbert Houcke was a very respected wild animal trainer.

Nadia lives in England & I visited with her when I last went to the UK three years ago.

Nadia's nephew, Sacha is with the GSOE at this time.

30 October, 2006 12:18
Buckles said...

Thank you!

30 October, 2006 12:33
Anonymous said...

I can think of five other women working the Horse Fantasy Review. Excluding Herta and ????. JC on a CASTLE date? Yes I can just imagine the hissy fits from JC and Castle. Castle barred JC from my daybeau with "WILD ANIMAL FANTASY". I did not know the story for years and I was crushed that JC did not show up. He did call and wished me luck, etc. It was also my 19th birthday.

30 October, 2006 12:36
Anonymous said...

Thanks everyone for the info. I was behind the scenes and know of the props. It was a beautiful act as are all of JCs. One thing stands out in my memory. Picture this, Hawi? The big island, the beach, Nadia in a french Bikini. Now they call it a thong. This was the early 60s. Topless was the norm. The beachwear was way ahead of its time behind America. I always respected humans who do not starve themselves to be thin. She was the best of the presenters of the act and the only one I ever saw who was not in tears most of the time.

30 October, 2006 13:01
Unknown said...

Hi, I'm looking for information on my grandad, you mention him here Roy Holt ? I have been searching the internet to find out about him and this picture came up with your comments ? Do you have anything you can tells about him ?
Lucie holt

27 January, 2015 16:48
Unknown said...

Hi does anyone have any information on Roy Holt ? He was my grandad and I'm trying to find out about him. He is mentioned in one of the comments ? I'm guessing he is one in the picture above ?
Lucie

27 January, 2015 17:34

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