Have you heard of the racing buffalo, HARVEY WALLBANGER?

On March 4, 1989, the racing buffalo Harvey Wallbanger made his California debut at Golden Gate Fields.  Ridden by his owner and trainer, T. C. Thorstenson, Harvey Wallbanger defeated Two Eyed Burt, a quarter horse ridden by “Cowboy” Jack Kaenel, by a half-length in a 110-yard dash down the Golden Gate Fields stretch.  The 8-year-old, 2,000-pound buffalo posted a time of 9.4 seconds while recording his 21st victory in 26 starts.

In 1985, Harvey Wallbanger sprinted down the racetrack amongst a group of racehorses. Who exactly was he? Harvey was an orphan buffalo who thought he was a horse. His story is an interesting one! In fact, Harvey was quite a celebrity in his time. It all began in 1980 when Harvey’s mother was shot by a poacher. Trainer and jockey Collin ‘TC’ Thorstenson took on the orphaned buffalo. TC would bottle feed the little guy in his car. As local interest sparked, Harvey was eventually invited to race against the Quarter Horses in Energy Downs. He was one of the only racing buffalos of his time! Harvey would burst through the start gate and make his way to the rail. Because of his size and sounds, the competing horses were usually too afraid to get near him. He enjoyed success in American, Canada and Mexico with 79 races won out of 93 starts. In 1990, Harvey won a whopping $108,000 with 20 races. Unfortunately, his story comes to a halt in 1991 when he ate some bad hay. TC was awarded $475,000 in damages by Kenny and Jimmy Murdock, the hay supplier. And while TC attempted to start over with another buffalo, Harvey Wallbanger Jr. wasn’t made for racing. He did end up developing a niche for acting though. TC comments, “I could have trained 40 horses in the time I spent training Harvey. My buffalo aren’t just buffalo. They are family members.” What a great story! History is filled with some amazing animals, such as these Top 10 Famous People And Their Horses.

 

NEW BUTTON. DIFFERENT FUND. LET’S DO THIS!

FUND TOTAL AS OF TODAY:  $797

I’m no genius. Just an average girl who has a passion to save horses in need. This is my idea going forward. If we have a constant fund going daily… we will have funds to give to those on the ground who are saving these horses in real time at the killing auctions.

Horse and Man Foundation, Inc has a new Fund button. KEEP THEM OFF THE TRUCK FUND. This fund will go on all day, all the time. It will always be here. If you want to save a horse from slaughter, you know we will do that here.

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KEEP THEM OFF OF THE TRUCK donation fund!