One last ride
Sometime around 7:15 p.m. this Friday night, Gordon Lee senior Dalton Green will ride his trusted white horse, Traveler, through the gates at Bobby Chappell Field and around the edge of the track toward the middle of the endzone.
As the Marching Trojan Band forms its signature pregame “L” formation, Green, dressed in full Trojan warrior gear and brandishing a sword and shield, will take Traveler through the band corridor to the delight of the crowd before riding him back off the field. It’s a ride the two have made together for Gordon Lee home football games ever since Green was a sixth-grader.
But this Friday night, the ride will be a little more meaningful and likely a little more bittersweet for Green.
Now a senior, and barring any home playoff games the Trojans might earn after the regular season, this will most likely be the last Friday night ride for him and his equine partner.
“We’ve thought about some other possibilities about getting to ride him (in public) one last time after football ends,” said Green, who has also made appearances with Traveler at Lady Trojan softball games carrying the American flag for pregame ceremonies. “Hopefully we can find a way to make one last appearance, but he’s sort of graduating with me so that’s kind of symbolic.”
The idea of becoming the Trojan on Horseback began with Green and his family some eight years ago, when Green was in the fifth grade. A lifelong love of horses and the inspiration of seeing college mascots on horses at Florida State, USC and other schools, prompted the family to go to the Chickamauga School Board to see about the possibility of doing the same thing at Gordon Lee.
“We pitched the idea to the school board and they were a little reluctant at first,” he explained. “But as we kind of went back and explained ourselves and worked through some things, they finally agreed to let me do it and I’ve been the Trojan on Horseback ever since the sixth grade.
“Once we started, we had several (Gordon Lee) alumni come up and tell us that there used to be someone that did this same thing years ago. Prior to me doing this, we hadn’t heard about that, so it was good to give some of the alumni something to reminisce about. It apparently happened many years ago, so it’s kind of a throwback for them.”
Green said his original costume was essentially a Halloween-type of getup that was ordered online, but has evolved into a more authentic look as the years have gone on.
“The (costume) I’ve been using for a while now was custommade by Hilda Capp, a seamstress that lives up in Fort Oglethorpe,” he explained. “The sheath for the sword was made by Haslerig Saddlery in Chickamauga and the shield was made by Machine Works of Tennessee up in Cleveland. It’s been a really communityinvolved deal. I’m just thankful that we were able to find all of it. The helmet was ordered online, but it’s authentic because it has real horse hair on top of it.”
The original version also included a different horse. Green first rode a brown, half-quarterhorse, halfArabian during his first year as the Trojan. But the next year he got Traveler, now 11 years old, and the duo have been a team ever since.
He said many people probably don’t understand how much time and effort went into training Traveler to perform on Friday nights.
“You can’t just take any horse to a game,” he said. “You’ve kids running around you, players running around you, refs blowing whistles and a lot of stuff going on, but Traveler stays calm.
“He wasn’t that way from the get-go though. We took him to a lot of band practices to get him used to it. We would work with a flag in front of him and make all kinds of noise while I was riding him until he sort of became ‘bomb-proof’. I’ve only come off of him one time at a game, but that was a long time ago and we really haven’t had any problems since because I think he was the right horse.”
He says while being the Trojan on Horseback is great for school spirit, he adds that it’s a great tool to use as an extension of Agricultural Education, which he plans to major in at the University of Georgia.
“The fans look forward to it, as well as the school as a whole,” he added. “A lot of the elementary school kids look forward to seeing Traveler. They remember him game to game and they always want to come up and pet him. I get a lot of joy out of that too because I enjoy agriculture education and horses are a big part of that. By me being the Trojan on Horseback, a lot of kids in the city of Chickamauga get to be around and pet a horse and they may not have the opportunity to do that anywhere else.”
Green has big plans after college. He wants to become an Agricultural Education teacher and work with young farmers and he also has a goal of one day becoming the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Georgia.
He said he hopes someone will take over the tradition and become the next Trojan on Horseback.
“Right now, there isn’t anyone lined up to take over for me in the future,” he added. “But if someone were to take over, they would have to find a horse that worked for them because this is a partnership for sure. And Traveler’s staying with me.”