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Argo - Trusted Palomino combat
horse ridden by Xena (Lucy Lawless), an ancient Greek warrior princess on the
action adventure XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS/SYN/1995-2001.
Argo
carried Xena throughout ancient Greece while Xena's traveling companion and
close friend, Gabrielle (Rene O'Connor) walked by their side.
Gabrielle once
exclaimed "Do you know how important Argo is to Xena? I think she likes that
horse more than she likes me. I can't count the number of times Argo has saved
Xena."
Argo responds to Xena's whistles and takes verbal commands with ease.
In some of the earlier episodes such as "Sins of the Past" and "Dreamworker,"
Argo is referred to as "boy." However, beginning with the episode "The Greater
Good," it was made clear that Argo is a mare. It was in this episode that Argo
proved her loyalty to Xena by refusing to tear Xena's body to pieces even
though she is being whipped mercilessly to do so.
On the sixth season episode
"Livia" Argo was left in the care of Joxer for a period of 25 years. [Xena and
Gabrielle were encased in ice]. Upon their release, Joxer tells Xena that Argo
has died but announced a new addition, namely Argo's baby foal, Argo II. Argo
had previously died and returned to life in the third season episode "Been
There, Done That."
On the fifth season episode "Punchlines" Argo was shrunken
to the size of a miniature horse by Lachrymose, the God of despair to punish
Gabrielle for using his creek water without permission. After Lachrymose gets
hit with a pie, he begins to laugh and Argo returns to her normal size.
TRIVIA NOTE:
In the Hercules series before Xena got her own show, Xena rode a gray horse called
Snuff.
During series production several beige horses with white manes were used to
portray Argo. Among them, Tilly, a palomino mare, is the one most often seen.
Other horses used as stunt and body double stand-ins included Barbie, (as
Tilly`s stunt double); Mac (as a body double and for distant shots, like
riding into the sunset), as well as Aztec (for rearing); and Honey (for
kicking and running), The horses were all between 10 and 14 years old.
Gabrielle, Xena's faithful human companion, finally got her own horse. He was
played by a gelding called Flash. In "The Greater Good" episode, Xena asked
about the pony Gabrielle had as a child. Gabrielle recalled:
"His name was Tympani. I only tried to ride him once. It didn't work out, for
either of us. Still, he used to follow me around everywhere. I even let him
sleep in my room a couple of times."
In "A Solstice Carol" Gabrielle bought a donkey named Tobias from his cruel
master because she couldn't stand seeing it abused. She later gave Tobias to a
traveling couple (Joseph & Mary?) so that the woman and her newborn could have
a comfortable journey.
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