An article by Dr. Henry Falany
Updated April 28, 2021
Dear friends,
I want to tell you about a book and movie which we have been working on for more than four years. I will try to tell you this true story in a brief way. We want you to know about this so you can support us in prayer, and God knows we need it!!!
We’re excited about this story because it’s all about family and the power of relationships, though flawed, to accomplish the impossible.
Here goes… In my pre-teen and teenage days back in the 50s I was totally immersed in the series of books by Walter Farley about The Black Stallion. Remember the Disney movie that came out years later? In the series there were also the stories of The Black Stallion and Satan. The Black Stallion and his mighty son Satan were the focus of a series of books which made them the most famous fictional horses in history. The books came out in the 1940’s and 50’s and were all about a young boy from nowhere, and his horse from the same place, who, of course, won “the big one.”
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Henry & younger brother Wade, with Satan, age 6 months
When I was fourteen, living on a small farm near Turlock, California I had saved up some money and for a few dollars bought a small, homely, little colt. I named him Satan (Will explain more on this below) after Walter Farley’s fictional horse. Even though Satan was small for his age and very unsightly, I dreamed of him being my mighty son of the Black Stallion.
Well, early on it became very evident that the little ugly guy could jump. Even as a baby, he sailed over the fence like a deer. My folks were country folks, but not horsemen. Dad grew up in the south walking behind a mule at times (plowing) but that was about it. Therefore, I had to teach myself how to train Satan. So, I bought a set of pamphlets about training horses and started in.
As Satan grew, I taught him to lunge on a line. That means the horse runs or walks in a circle around you, on a twenty-five foot rope. Because he was so inclined to jump, I would put make-shift obstacles or jumps in his circle. He would usually sail right over them without hesitation. By the time he was a yearling, I had him jumping more than five feet high.
As Satan matured to riding age, I broke him to ride and he became my mountain and trail horse. He only grew up to a height of 14.2 hands, which is barely bigger than a large pony. He was heavily-muscled and large-boned, with great big feet. His ears and head resembled a mule, and like a mule he was very smart and strong-headed. At times you could see him staring at you and reading your mind. His disposition was a combination of ornery and sweet. He decided which and when.
Now jumping a lot of the story here – no pun intended – when Satan was nine years old, my youngest brother Robin was fourteen years old. I was twenty-two and too heavy for competition jumping. Robin was a good rider, but had never measured up to the rest of the family in sports.
Between swimming, football, baseball, boxing and horse sports other than jumping, we were all champions. Robin was the only exception as he never really excelled in any sport. He was also dyslexic, which was an unknown condition at the time, and it all began to have serious effects on his personal esteem. He began pulling away from the family and running with the wrong crowd, doing drugs, etc. The family was very concerned – but we prayed and had a praying grandma! And “by coincidence,” about that time in 1968, a very well-known horse trainer set up a horse-training and riding academy in Turlock.
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Henry & Satan – 1964
With the family’s agreement, I talked to the trainer about my horse who could jump and my little brother and his issues, who, nevertheless, could “ride the hair off a horse.” He agreed to meet them both and see what he could do. When that day came, he was shocked when he first laid eyes on Satan. Jumping horses are usually tall, leggy, thoroughbred-type horses with lots of pedigree and refinement. Satan was none of the above. The trainer was discouraged and he showed it.
“But,” he stuttered, “while they’re here, let’s see what they can do.” He took us to a training arena where he had what I call “kiddie jumps” set up. After having the duo go over the jumps, and having raised the bar several times, he shook his head and quipped, “Henry, I’ve never seen anything like this!” He only had the bar up to about 3 ½ feet, but what he saw was how effortlessly Satan and Robin went over it.
He decided the two of them were worth a try, but he cautioned us about how tough the competition would be, and that it would take two years to get them going right and ready to compete.
Jumping a lot of story again, a mere two months later and on their very first competition, Robin and Satan won the open jumpers event in a large show in Stockton, California. It blew everyone’s mind. A fourteen year old kid, from a family who looked like the Beverly Hillbillies, on a tiny, ugly little horse, had just beat all the pros on their champion horses. The high-class and high-falutin’ folks were flabbergasted!
That was just the beginning. Robin and Satan went on to compete all over the state. They competed and won high honors in places like the San Francisco’s Cow Palace and Santa Barbara shows. Satan either won or was the horse to beat, everywhere they went.
Many times the crowd would laugh when the duo entered the arena because they thought they were a clown act. But as soon as they went into action many times folks would jump to their feet in excitement.
Satan and Robin soon began to get a following of folks coming to the shows, just to watch the little under-dogs take it to the big boys. Equine sports writers started writing newspaper and magazine articles about “Satan the Wonder Horse,” or “The Little Black Horse with the Big Feet That Wouldn’t Say No.” At times, we even witnessed the competition cheering for Satan and Robin because what they were doing was so impossible.
Then in 1971, after 3 years of unbelievable success, Robin, now 17, and Satan, now 12, competed all week at the Cal Expo State Fair Horse Show. They were competing for the high-point, junior jumper (under 18) state championship of California. They were up against tough competitors, riding high-dollar, well- trained, professional horses, and against all the odds – they won the state championship.
While everyone was celebrating, the trainer came to the family and reminded them that the State Fair Horse Show main event, the “Anheuser-Busch Jumper Sweepstakes,” was coming up that night, and he thought the two had a shot at making a good showing in it. They hadn’t come to Sacramento to compete in that event, but the family agreed and the late penalty entry fee was paid.
This was one of the biggest and toughest jumping events on the west coast. Champion jumpers and professional riders came from around the country to compete in this very prestigious event. Ronald Reagan, who was governor at the time, and his wife Nancy, both horsemen themselves, were in the crowd that evening, along with a bunch of other celebrities.
Robin and Satan had already worked hard and performed hard all week long and earlier that day, and they were not fresh like the other horse and rider teams were. And now they faced an extremely tough course and very high jumps. Again, there was some laughter when they entered the arena for their turn. But after the first few jumps, the crowd was on their feet cheering to a roar, as the two flew over jump after jump.
We really believe that ornery ol’ horse made a decision that night, “This one is ours!” They won! The crowd was ecstatic. They were shouting and cheering as the two unlikelys walked away with the big one!
When the Reagans had entered the grandstand earlier, they received a standing ovation. But as Robin and Satan exited the arena, they were honored with a double standing ovation – led by the Reagans.
This was the only time in the history of the California State Fair (Cal Expo) that a junior rider won the coveted Open Jumpers Championship. Never before, and never since. Now, not only has Satan done the impossible, but Robin has earned a higher achievement of glory than all the athletes in the Falany family.
I retired Satan from jumping soon after that, and we went back to our mountains and trails, jumping the fences and logs, and anything else that got in our way. He and I rode many a mile together, forever reminiscing about all that winning and all that glory. He lived to be a ripe old age of almost thirty.
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Henry & Satan on one of many happy trail rides
Now, with the help of our very good friend, Mary Huckstep who is a published, award-winning author, script doctor, and screenwriter, we are writing a movie script and then following with a book. People love horse stories and even more, they love successful under-dog stories.
This is a story of fiction becoming reality – a story of perseverance – a story of family, passion and overcoming – a story of personal healing for Robin – a story with humor – and most of all, it is a true under-dog story. It will be a Christian movie portraying a powerful message that encourages people to believe that with heart and perseverance, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish.
We will tell the horse’s real name and its origin in the book and the movie, but for obvious reasons we are changing his name in the title to just Wonder Horse (© 2017)
Things are changing. Hollywood needs, and is hungry for, more great Christian and family-oriented stories. And similar to the Seabiscuit story during “The Great Depression,” the nation, which is now trying to recover from a “pandemic” is ripe for a true and encouraging underdog story.
So what we are believing God for is that the three successful Christian production companies to whom Mary pitched the story last year would read the script, love it and come together to produce it as a joint production. The budget will be relatively big because the film will require a lot of stunt work and a second production unit to film the jumping scenes. But praise God, Christian films are proven money-makers now, and God is calling godly investors to fund them. We believe that the time for Wonder Horse is NOW. Won’t you join us in prayer? This is a God-sized project and we can’t do it without His help!
This story excites us as we hope it does you. Again, we would love to hear any comments.
As Roy Rogers used to say, “May the good Lord take a likin’ to ya!”
Happy Trails!!
Your friends,
Henry & Grace Falany
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Robin & Satan in Santa Barbara – about 1970
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