Many people around the world love horses and related activities, including horseback riding, horse racing and placing online horse racing bets through their favorite online sports betting site. This includes celebrities, many of whom have invested huge amounts of time, money and love into these majestic animals and all they have to offer.
Join us as we take a look at five famous individuals who love horses and equestrian sports.
Bella Hadid
Model of the year in 2016, Bella Hadid grew up with a love of horses and enjoyed horseback riding from an early age. She took the sport very seriously and even planned to compete in the 2016 Olympics. However, in 2016, her health took a turn for the worse, and she had to give up her dream of competing professionally. In a blog post titled “Yolanda Foster: I Have Nothing to Prove,” her mother, Yolanda, talks about how Bella and her brother Anwar had both been diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2013 and had been receiving treatment. Unfortunately, she still had to give up her aspirations as a professional rider due to worsening symptoms at the time.
However, Bella still has an incredible passion for horses, with Grazia magazine sharing a story about her with her horse, Blue, in their article “Bella Hadid’s Horse is Chic.” While she still has to manage her health on a day-to-day basis, this clearly hasn’t affected her love for the animals, even if she can’t show off her horse-riding skills on the international stage.
Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser’s life has undoubtedly been filled with ups and downs, but one thing that hasn’t changed in his life is his empathy for others, including Pecas, a horse he met on set while shooting the History Channel series Texas Rising. In an interview with GQ titled “What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser?” Fraser recounted how he saw other horses bullying Pecas. “And they beat up on this horse. I mean, I swear, I saw him get kicked so many times, bit by other horses all the time. And I never saw him fight back.”
He also shared how the horse and he connected, and he knew he had to get involved. Fraser describes how he found himself making a plan to help his four-legged friend: “Without doing too much – what’s the word? Anthropomorphic…anthropomorphizing… Without pretending that the animal is a human, he looked like he needed help. Like: Get me out of here, man.”
This resulted in Fraser organizing a one-way ticket for his new friend to New York, where Pecas now lives. Fraser’s autistic son, Griffin, rides and helps take care of Pecas, an important task that doesn’t only help the boy and the horse but also his father, who is often away while shooting on set. When Fraser is around, he enjoys riding horses for the calming effect it has on him.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor is another celebrity who had an incredible love for horses. Even before she took to the saddle for the hit film National Velvet, she had bonded with her co-star King Charles. According to HorseyHooves.com’s article “8 Facts You Didn’t Know About the National Velvet Movie,” he was a feisty horse who didn’t care much for the crew, sometimes going as far as biting them. Thankfully, he got along well with Taylor and would eventually be gifted to her by the studio after they had wrapped up filming.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx may have played a slave turned cowboy and freedom fighter in the hit film Django Unchained, but this celebrity’s ability to ride horses (and love for horses) actually pre-dates the film.
Cowgirlmagazine.com’s article “Jamie Foxx From Django Unchained is a Cowboy in Real Life” covers how this multi-talented individual actually rode his own horse, Cheetah, during the making of the film. It also shows how he shared his love for horses and horseback riding on his Instagram page, either with videos of him attending his favorite rodeo, posing with his horse, or teaching his daughter how to ride.
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco is undoubtedly loved by her fans for her portrayal of Penny the waitress turned head salesperson with a heart of gold from the hit TV series The Big Bang Theory. But this actress has even more reason to be adored by her fans: she’s a huge animal lover and takes care of at least 25 horses. She’s also been riding and taking part in equestrian events since she was a teenager, clearly demonstrating a long-lasting affinity with these animals. Images of her competing and riding and even just hugging horses can be found on her Instagram page.
She further showed how much she loves horses when she heard about Saint Boy, a horse that was hit by Kim Raisner, Germany’s modern pentathlon team coach at the 2020 Olympics. Seeing how Raisner treated the horse, Cuoco offered to purchase the horse so that she could give it the proper care it needed. She even told them to name their price to show how serious she was.
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