Amanda Edwards/Getty Images Sylvester Stallone and William Shatner at the 14th Annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show.
Rocky Balboa and Captain Kirk never shared a movie together. But, surprisingly, the actors who played these two screen legends enjoy a shared hobby that brought them together in real life. If you’re curious about what hobby could bond William Shatner and Sylvester Stallone, read on to learn all the details.
Stallone & Shatner Both Love Horses
In the video above, Shatner talks about his love of horses.
Both Shatner and Stallone are known for their love of horses. Louisville’s WAVE3 News notes that Shatner and his horses often took top honors at the Rock Creek Horse Show over a 25 year period.
As for Stallone, horses run in the family. Frank Stallone, Sylvester’s father, was a polo player, and taught the sport to his son. The Rocky star bought a Palomino Quarter Horse, named “Step to the Bar Jac”, back in 2013.
Stallone & Shatner Attend the Same Equine Charity Events
Amanda Edwards/Getty ImagesActors Sylvester Stallone and William Shatner chat at the 14th Annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show on May 1, 2004 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California.
Shatner has been running the Hollywood Charity Horse Show since 1990. The event regularly draws celebrity guests who also love horses. The event is for charity, with the goal of supporting the lives of children with special needs. Shatner has also been involved with The All Glory Project, which provides equine therapy for military veterans.
‘Star Trek’ Had Many Horse Moments
In addition to Kirk’s infamous horsey impression in season three, seen above, the original series of Star Trek featured horses in the first season episode Shore Leave. Additionally, Picard and Kirk both rode on horseback in Star Trek: Generations.
Shatner Owns Horses
Mark Mainz/Getty ImagesWilliam Shatner hosts the “Hollywood Charity Horse Show” at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center Equidome on April 30, 2005 in Los Angeles, California.
Shatner wrote a piece for Kentucky Living about his lifelong love of horses. Shatner has ridden horses all over the United States, but tends to spend most of his riding time in two states.
“I have a farm in California where I have retired some of the great horses I have ridden or driven,” he wrote, “But most of the Kentucky horses are at various trainers around the Lexington area.”
After Shatner’s 2020 divorce, People reported that Shatner took custody of two horses after the settlement. Those horses were named Renaissance Man’s Medici and Powder River Shirley. Shatner’s ex, Elizabeth, took ownership of the horses named Belle Reve’s So Photogenic and Pebbles. In an interesting twist, the divorce settlement also guaranteed that William Shatner retained “all horse semen”, according to Page Six.
While that might seem like an oddly specific clause in a divorce settlement, Business Insider reports that a gallon of horse semen from a thoroughbred can be valued at millions of dollars.
Shatner Got Into Horse-Related Twitter War
@WilliamShatner Are you really saying that being nice to horses balances out being inhumane to black people?
Shatner’s love of horses has occasionally gotten him into hot water with fans. Back in 2017, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Shatner’s support of a historic statue of a famous equestrian overlooked some problematic history.
At the time, Louisville was debating the future of the statue of John B. Castleman, a statue that Shatner approved of. While it is true that Castleman helped start the American Saddlebred Horse Association, it’s also true that he served in the Confederate Army. CBS News notes that the issue of how America deals with statues of Confederate soldiers became a “hot button issue” after the 2017 Charlottesville white supremacist rally.
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DETAILS: This Hobby United William Shatner & Sylvester Stallone