When he was a young man, Gene received an offer from a professional baseball team to become a player. Gene turned down the offer because it would have meant a fifty-dollar-a-month pay cut from his telegrapher's job.

Champion, World's Wonder Horse

Little Champ (dates undetermined)

Sorrel-colored
4 white stockings
Blaze faced
Debuted in the film The Strawberry Roan (1948); also appeared in the films Beyond the Purple Hills (1950) and The Old West (1952), and Saginaw Trail (1953)
Was in The Gene Autry Show episodes The Star Toter (1950), Million Dollar Fiddle (1955), Ghost Ranch (1955), Saddle Up (1955), Ride Ranchero (1955), and The Rangerette (1955)
Well-trained trick pony
Highlights: appeared at Madison Square Garden in 1948; appeared in national tour of "The Gene Autry Show" in 1949

Research assistance provided by author Petrine Mitchum.

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