Go Green, Go White and Let’s go State. No you aren’t hearing a cheer. Those are the names of the MSU horses that pull the Spartan Chariot and its charioteers with spirit and pride in each stride.
The Spartan Chariot is a longtime staple in home football games and made an appearance at “The Cold War” hockey game this season.
But the chariot has a new look this year.
A makeover for the chariot was originally planned by an MSU affiliate, but four MSU colleges turned the project into a Spartan affair with faculty members and students recreating the chariot and its theme.
“What’s different about this project is everyone involved is a part of MSU,” said Brian Nielsen, a n assistant professor of the Animal Science Department and a charioteer. “The other chariot was developed by people outside of MSU and it was made of fiberglass with Arabian horses.”
MSU’s new chariot is a more solid construction composed of wood and metal and features Andalusian horses.
Officials at College of Agriculture and Natural Resources trained the horses. Faculty at the College of Engineering designed and developed the chariot. And faculty and students at the College of Arts and Letters designed the charioteer’s costumes.
The School of Veterinary Medicine bought the horses with a grant it received.
But buying the horses was the easy part, the search for them was the hard part, said Hilary Clayton, director of MSU’s Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center.
“I needed white horses of course and they had to be really good around the public,” and “have a good temperate with people,” Clayton said.
The Andalusian horses were the exact breed of horse Clayton wanted to join the Spartan family.
“They are known for their fancy movements and big necks,” Clayton said. “They needed to be partly trained to be around humans because the MSU’s crowds are so big.”
And Nielsen said the horses have been great during all the football games, especially Homecoming.
“Training the horses took a lot of work, we trained them two hours a day,” he said. “The horses were put through listening training, they would listen to the campus band play and crowd training.”
The training was not the only preparation for the showcasing of the chariot, new costumes for the charioteers were designed by Valerie Webster and Amanda Fritsch.
“We wanted to recreate the theme of the Roman and Greek army,” Fritsch said. “I think the reception has went well and the Spartan Chariot looks great.”
Nielsen said the Spartan Chariot will probably only make a brief appearance during Saturday’s game against the University of Michigan because it’s televised.
“We will do one quick lap around the stadium because it’s live television and they do everything fast,” Nielsen said. “The horses will be wearing colorful green and white feathers in their bridles”
