Beautiful Jim Key was a Standardbred x Arab stallion, foaled in 1889. He was owned Dr William Key who was a self trained vet and former slave.

Jim was hand raised as a foal by humans which probably led to him being more sensitive to human behavior than the average horse.

Beautiful Jim Key demonstrated unexplained abilities in reading, writing, mathematics and spelling. He could also apparently tell the time, sort mail, use a cash register and answer a telephone.

In addition to the above already remarkable skills Jim could allegedly debate politics and cite passages from the bible.

For approximately nine years Beautiful Jim performed in world fairs and expositions. He broke box office records and won praise from leaders such as Booker T Washington and President McKinley.

Jim was market as the ‘Smartest Horse in the World” and his value was said to be more than $1,000,000.

Mim Eichler Rivas wrote a book about Beautiful Jim Key in which she talks about how he influenced thousands of children to be kind to animals. Further research has also been done that will hopefully result in a documentary or feature film being launched about Jim in the future.

Jim Key was touted as an ‘educated horse’ but there are other horses which are marketed as ‘psychic’. In addition there are people who claim that they can communicate with horses via psychic horse whispering. You can hire a psychic horse whisperer to visit your barn or stable yard though come will do a telephone reading if required.

Horses and mules were heavily employed by the military during World War I. Over 200,000 animals were obtained at the start of the war from the UK, Spain, Portugal, India, South Africa and New Zealand. The horses were placed into squadrons then deployed to the troops on the frontline.

Horses were used to carry weaponry including ammunition and guns as well as troops and often carried a combined weight of over 280 lbs on their backs. With many horses dying or becoming injured the army had to buy about 15,000 more per month to maintain numbers.

War horses and mules were extremely underfed and received less than a quarter of the food an equivalent animal in the UK would have. It is reported that starving horses were seen trying to eat the wheels of carts.

It is believed that in WWI at least 8 million horse, mules and donkeys died on all sides.

US President Calvin Coolidge had a novel way of keeping fit. Every morning he rode his mechanical horse, always wearing his hat but apparently not always his clothes.

Calvin Coolidge grew up on a farm in Vermont but developed an allergy to real horses. The mechanical replacement provided his daily exercise and had controls that could vary the intensity from a trot to a gallop. Sadly it is no longer in working order.

Coolidge donated the mechanical horse to Forbes at the end of his presidency and it is now being displayed in a special exhibition called ‘Cowboys and Presidents’. The exhibition covers presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush and includes items such as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s spurs and Ronald Reagan’s cowboy boots.