Argo
is the 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 responds to Xena's
whistles and takes verbal commands with ease.
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." 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.
Xena with
Argo, her faithful mount
Trivia
Note: During 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.
In the Hercules series
before Xena got her own show, Xena rode a gray
horse called Snuff.
