Traveler

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“Traveler is an important part of the whole picture of USC football games,” said Football Director Tim Tessalone. “The fans dressed in cardinal and gold, the band, the Song Girls and Traveler all come together to make the USC football experience what it is.”

“When they see the horse, the crowd -- especially the kids -- just go bananas,” said current Tommy Trojan and Traveler VII rider Hector Aguilar. “The whole stadium shakes. That’s them responding to the tradition. They’re definitely into it.”

Traveler embodies the USC football tradition and family, but he is more than just the noble white horse that runs victory laps after touchdowns at Trojan football games. Outside the Coliseum, he appears as Traveler and as himself, Tuno IV, at USC and non-USC events including charities and riding competitions. Traveler can also be seen on television, in films, and in print advertisements.

TRAVELER THE TRADITION

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Traveler appears at all USC home football games. Traveler and his rider, Tommy Trojan, canter behind the band during the entrance run and gallop behind USC’s sideline bench after each Trojan touchdown. After the lighting of the Trojan torch occurs between the third and fourth quarters, Tommy rides Traveler down the sidelines.

“I have been attending USC football games practically since I was born and [Traveler’s runs] were always my favorite part of the game growing up,” said Senior Whitney Middleton.

Over more than 40 years of Traveler tradition there have been seven Travelers. Traveler first appeared in the Coliseum at the 1961 opening season game against Georgia Tech. Bon Janni, then USC’s Director of Special Events, came up with the idea to incorporate the white horse into the Trojan football tradition after seeing Richard Saukko riding Traveler I in the 1961 Rose Parade. Janni invited Saukko to ride Traveler I around the Coliseum during home games, creating the tradition of Traveler’s post-touchdown run, which is accompanied by USC band playing “Conquest.”

“Traveler is an integral part of the school’s pageantry,” said Senior Kathryn Kelly. “I went about six hours early to a game so I could sit in the front and give Tommy Trojan a high five as he rode Traveler around the Coliseum.”

Traveler is known to be a good luck charm for Trojan football.

“A lot of the players want to pet the horse as they walk by onto the field as a superstition or tradition,” said Aguilar. “He gets the team fired up because he represents the Trojan spirit and that’s what they’re fighting for. He definitely adds a positive edge to the team.”

Aguilar also said that head football coach Pete Carroll always gives him the “Fight On” sign in acknowledgment of the horse and the tradition as he and the team run off the field after pre-game practice.

Over the course of the Traveler tradition, Traveler’s breed has ranged from Tennessee Walker to Arabian to Andalusian. The current Traveler, Traveler VII, is a pure-bred Adalusian horse. Two qualities have remained constant throughout Traveler's history: his pure white color.

TRAVELER'S CREW

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Twelve people comprise Traveler’s Crew, a group that maintains Traveler before, during and after games and events: Joanne Asman, who owns and manages Traveler; Hector Aguilar, who rides Traveler and plays Tommy Trojan; Ronda Nierenberg, who serves as head groomer; veterinarian Brad Purdue; head runner Scott Biederman; three wranglers and two security guards.

Joanne Asman of Asman & Associates, LLC, owns and trains horses

and animals for the entertainment industry and special events. Asman has owned Traveler VII for 14 years, and she says, “he’s my best friend.”

Asman claims Traveler VII’s unique temperament is what makes him so well suited for the position of USC’s renowned equine mascot.

“The Traveler tradition is about love anyway, so fans are going to love any Traveler that is a white horse, but they seem they seem to have a very special bond with this particular Traveler because of his personality. He’s friendly. He’s calm. He’ll stand for five hours and let person after person pet him and take their picture with him and then he’ll go onto the field and do his job.”

There have been a number of Tommy Trojans over the course of the Traveler tradition. Richard Saukko first appeared as Tommy Trojan in the outfit that actor Charleton Heston wore in “Ben Hur.” After finding this costume too cumbersome, Saukko created his own leather Trojan garb modeled after the Tommy Trojan statue on the USC campus in 1962. This outfit is still used today.

Aguilar, the current Tommy Trojan, has been with Traveler VII for nine years, six of which were prior to his becoming USC’s famed mascot.

“What we represent to the fans is just great,” said Aguilar. “The most fun thing is the thrill of being in the Coliseum when the game starts and there are 93,000 people screaming.”

Veterinarian Purdue attends all home games and events with large crowds; as head runner, Biederman runs with Traveler along the sidelines to ensure he has a clear path. USC also employs five students to serve as rope-holders on the sidelines to make a safe corridor for Traveler to run.

See some of the places Traveler goes by clicking on the tacks below.

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KEEPING UP WITH TRAVELER

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Traveler lives in a stall at owner Joanne Asman’s home in Burbank. Asman’s other horse and Rex, head groomer Ronda Nierenberg’s brown Quarter horse, keep him company. Traveler also has two canine buddies: Asman’s Australian shepherd Cadie and Siberian husky Destiny.

Traveler requires about four to five hours of care each day. He eats three times a day, receiving a combination of alfalfa, and grass, as well as vitamins, joint supplements and treats. He gets extra alfalfa before particularly tiring games.

Traveler is brushed daily and bathed weekly. An average grooming session entails two kinds of brushing, hoof cleaning and re-braiding Traveler’s mane and tail. Mane and tail care alone can take 30 to 40 minutes.

Click through a slideshow of Traveler's pre-game meet and greets, Traveler at home in Burbank and Traveler merchandise. Choose "show info" to read captions.

To keep him in shape for the games, Asman and Aguilar ride Traveler about five times a week. His exercises vary from muscle-building jaunts in the Griffith Park Hills to drills in the Griffith Park Martinez Arena.

“I never know if we’re going to run a lot in the Coliseum for touchdowns, so he’s got to be in good shape and have good stamina,” said Aguilar.

Drills include cantering, trotting and responding to the rider’s cues, as well as training for special events that may be coming up.

Traveler’s training is extensive; he practices for every game and every event he attends. In preparation for games, Asman builds fake mascots that resemble those of opposing teams to prevent Traveler from being startled or thrown off his routine by the other team’s mascot.

After learning of the Stanford Tree’s annual attempts to intimidate USC’s equine mascot, Asman built a false Tree and fed Traveler cookies off of it prior to the game. When the Tree approached Traveler at that season’s Stanford-USC game, Traveler was unfazed. Since then, the Tree has made no attempts to upset Traveler.

Traveler also attends band practice during football pre-season to remain familiar with the music. In fact, Traveler’s trainers have to disassociate him from running to “Conquest” in some situations.

“He knows his song,” said Asman. “Sometimes we have to train the song out of him, so when he hears it outside the Coliseum he doesn’t try to run.”

OUTSIDE OF THE COLISEUM

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Traveler appears at a number of USC-related events and charities, and can be hired to appear at parties. Click here for a Traveler Appearance Request Form.

USC charity event Spirits in Action, a track and field competition that hosts more than 300 student-athletes with mental and physical disabilities from the greater Los Angeles area, is a very “special” Traveler event according to Asman.

“He’s the highlight of the event,” said Asman. “[The athletes] love him.”

Traveler is trained to drop his head down into a wheelchair so that people with disabilities can pet him.

“He brings everybody to life,” said Nierenberg. “When he walks into the stadium or into a room, the energy and electricity is amazing. Everybody is so excited to see him. We have people tell us that the only reason they come to an event is to see him.”

Watch a video of some of the extra-Coliseum events Traveler attends below.

When he’s not appearing as USC’s legendary mascot, Traveler appears as himself, Tuno IV. Tuno is a 17-year-old gelding who has been seen on television and the stage, in films and in print advertisements. Tuno also appears at horse fairs, competitions and parades.

Tuno appeared on the cover of the June 2005 issue of Vogue magazine with Selma Hayek. He was also used as a model for Disney’s animated film “Road to El Dorado,” and he appeared at the Los Angeles premiere of the movie “Troy.”

Many celebrities, from Fabio to Country Western singer LeAnne Rimes have ridden Tuno at events.

Tuno serves as an ambassador for the Andalusian breed at events such as Fiesta of the Spanish Horse in Burbank and the Equine Affair in Pomona.

Tuno has won a number of titles including 2000 Overall National Champion Gelding for the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association and holds a certificate as a national ambassador for his breed.

CONTINUING THE TRAVELER TRADITION

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In 2004, Bill and Nadine Tilley donated $2 million to the Traveler Mascot Program to ensure the survival of the Traveler tradition for future generations of Trojans. Tilley, a USC alum who graduated in 1961, is a long-time supporter of both academic and athletic USC activities.

The Tilley’s donation has helped pay for a number of Traveler appearances, including the past four trips to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl as well as to the 2005 Orange Bowl.

“Mr. Tilley’s generous donation allowed us to go to the National Championship a few years ago,” said Asman. “The fans didn’t know Traveler was coming, and when we walked into the stadium to do the opening run, the stadium erupted…you would have thought we’d won the game, all because [the] mascot, icon and tradition that gives them so much power made the 3000-mile trip across the United States to be at the game.”

The donation guarantees that future Travelers will be Spanish Andalusian horses; Nadine Tilley trains and breeds Spanish Andalusians at her family’s ranch in Hemet, California.

The Tilleys also commissioned artist LeRoy Neiman, known for his brilliantly colored paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events, to paint 300 serigraphs of Traveler and the Trojan football team to be sold to alumni to raise funds for the Traveler Mascot Program in 2007.