McNeese Athletics History

Since 2007, a growing tradition was started after the "Horse and Rider" statue was put on the corner of Ryan and Sale street on the McNeese    State Campus. The "Horse and Rider" statue comes to life every Saturday. After the statue comes to life, the horse by the name of Moondancer   and the Mystery Rider march down Common Street to Cowboy Stadium. During pre-game, Moondancer and the Mystery Rider take the field and   scan the crowd intently. It is at that time that the Mystery Rider is making it know that he is watching you, making sure you are a cowboy fan, and
   making sure that you are there supporting your Cowboy football team. After the Mystery Rider makes an impression in Cowboy Stadium, he then leaves the field to go round up the remaining people in the area
who are not at the game.

   Moondancer
   To date, there have been two horses to take the field at Cowboy Stadium.
   2007-2009: Moondancer I
   2009-Present: Moondancer II

Description of the "Horse and Rider" statue on the corner of Ryan Street and Sale Road (Picture on bottom left)
The cowboy is riding a Visalia saddle and has a 60-foot rawhide rope. Behind his saddle is his Fish brand slicker tied without folding to keep the wax coating from cracking. The hackamore on the young horse is complete with Fiador and Mecate. The cowboy wears G.S. Garcia spurs and shotgun leggings of the period. He has secured in his holster a .45 Colt single action pistol in an E.L. Gallatin holster and belt with five cartridges on each side. The horse is a typical ranch horse for the period with different conformation than today's modern quarter horse. Fellows
wrote this about the statue “In the vast reaches of the American West the work ethic still exists. The man who makes his living on horses that are bound to buck, earns his pay. A good hand is loyal to his outfit, meets a challenge and takes pride in an honest day's work.