Friday, October 23, 2015

From Eric Beheim #2


Posted by Buckles at 10/23/2015 05:15:00 AM

4 comments:

Ole Whitey said...

For years I have wondered about this humongous tiger- any comments about species, subspecies etc- possibly Siberian/Amur?

23 October, 2015 11:47
Buckles said...

I remember when the tiger stepped down, the horses knees would buckle slightly.

23 October, 2015 13:29
Wade G. Burck said...

Most likely Siberian or Siberian X. Traditionally there were a lot more Siberian tigers used in European act's as they were more numerous in European zoo's, back when zoo's and circus's were friends. America had more "Gays lion farm" type of zoo's where purity was not as much of an issue as numbers. Not unusually "humongous" for a Siberian, Siberian X but he is quite "paunchy," very common for a feline living alone in a small, confined space with limited activity. Not as common today, now that we have learned they need larger cages and exercise space. I used to cringe when trainers/performers would tell the press, "They get a lot of exercise and movement when they do they act 2 or 3 times a day. That's like saying that you get exercise by getting off the couch and walking to the donniker to take a dump. How big/tall was Evi. That will give the illusion the animals are bigger. Compare pictures of Charly and GGW. The "buckling" of the horse's knee's was most likely the sudden clumsy distribution of weight. It is a Knabstupper, historically bred in Europe as a cart/wagon/carriage/work pulling horse so weight isn't much of an issue for him, although in modern time's they are being bred with warmbloods for more refinement and used for dressage. I was always more intrigued with the zebra skin that the horse originally wore when the act first came to America, and didn't understand changing to the blanket. The zebra stripes were a neat contract with the horse's spots, and I can't imagine much animal rights bs in the early 70's. But who knows. When Kadir Khan and the Cossack riders worked in Kazakhstan/Russia they wore wolf skins as costumes and used an Eagle in the act. When the act came to Ringling the wolf skins and eagle were nixed pronto and replaced with phony fake fur(my opinion the worst thing ever used for a costume) but that was in the mid 80's when political correctness and the ar movement was getting a toe hold in an otherwise normal world.

Wade Burck

23 October, 2015 20:40
Roger Smith said...

As I recall, this guy's name was King. When he entered from his shifting box, audiences gave a collective, "Woo!" He was most impressive, and needless to say, Eva was a total knockout. I have one criticism I formed at the time: If there was animal trouble, the elegance of her evening gown and heels would prove hazardous to the footwork needed to cope.

25 October, 2015 19:07

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