Saturday, March 10, 2007

Peggy Henderson MacDonald and "Opal"

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a faithfull reader of the Blog I recall that Peggy would be counting to 17 while Opal did the one-foot stand. Weren't the notchs at the top of the prop for two planks that one of the elephants used for a front-leg walk -- kind of elephant parallel bars?

Roger, is that Pat Anthony's arena in the background?

Buckles said...

You are right all the way around. This same elephant "Opal" would do the hind leg walk on the two planks, then turn around and return on her front legs, then kick into this classic one foot stand.
Someone once asked my dad who the best elephant trainers were and he replied, "Mac MacDonald, Hugo Schmitt and the rest are a pretty sorry lot!"

Anonymous said...

Jim: I believe you're right about Pat's cage. He was on Polack a lot during the Mac and Peggy MacDonald era. It seems Jim Cole is the last to have actually seen the Pat Anthony arena, wherever it is stashed.

Jimmy--what do you think?

I am ashamed I haven't talked to Peggy for a very long time. I want her to know these shots are on Buckles' site. I'm not sure she is online, but she should know about this.

Anonymous said...

That is a real trunk up along with everything else.
I am glad to say it was a real enjoyment to get to spend time and get to pick that old fox's brain when it came to his do's and dont's list in regards to his time spent with elephants while he was working at the state fair several times in Tx.
I won a few arguements with Mack MacDonald but was sure enlightened by the many I lost.