Traveler, the majestic white horse trotting around the Coliseum field during USC home games, may not have been the Trojans’ first mascot, but he is certainly the most famous. Over the last 57 years, the series of Traveler horses have become one of the most iconic patches in the quilt of college football pageantry.
The first sighting of a white horse ridden by a Trojan warrior at USC football games started in 1927. After a four-year run, it occurred sporadically again in the 1940’s and 1950’s. But the tradition Trojan fans know as Traveler, the beautiful white horse running down the sidelines as the Trojan Marching Band blares out “Conquest,” began in 1961 at a home game against Georgia Tech.
USC’s director of special events Bob Jani and USC student Eddie Tannenbaum were impressed with Traveler I and his rider Richard Saukko in the 1961 Rose Parade. The duo reached out to Saukko, asking him to ride his white horse in the Coliseum during USC home games, and the rest is history.
Saukko, in an attempt to resemble a Trojan warrior, donned the same outfit that Charlton Heston wore in the blockbuster movie “Ben Hur.” The following year Saukko constructed a less cumbersome leather costume, modeled after the Tommy Trojan statue in the center of the USC campus. That outfit is still being used to this day.
Saukko rode for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1988 due to health reasons. He unfortunately passed away four years later. His wife, Patricia, took over the ownership of the Traveler horses using a number of different riders over the next 20 years.
In 2003, Joanne Asman of Asman & Associates took over the Traveler tradition, starting with her white horse Traveler VII.
Traveler VII ran on the Coliseum turf for 15 years before retiring, seemingly to give way to Traveler VIII. But after just two games of work Traveler VIII became suddenly ill and passed away, forcing Traveler VII back out of retirement until a replacement could be trained. He ran until he was 27 years old.
Traveler IX was ready and able to take over for part of the 2017 football season and he has been the current USC mascot ever since.
Preparing for the trip from the San Fernando Valley, where Traveler is stabled, to the Coliseum for a performance can be quite the production.
“I have a whole crew that helps us,” said Traveler’s owner Asman. “He must exercise before the game, takes a bath, sometimes we must blow dry him depending on what the weather is, and we must be down at the stadium four to five hours before every game to get parked and be where we need to be.
“My crew especially teases me because I am always nervous until after the opening run. We always have him on display for people to take pictures, and pet him before the game starts. He does a dead run around the whole field and he goes so fast so I always worry about that. Once he returns to the tunnel from the opening run then we all relax because the touchdowns are easy.”
One of the most memorable moments for Asman was during USC’s national championship season back in 2004 when she brought Traveler VII to Miami for the title contest against Oklahoma.
“The Orange Bowl was the most heartwarming because we had only been doing it for about a year,” she said. “When we came through the tunnel and all those people in the Orange Bowl erupted because they didn’t know he was going to be there. That was when I learned what being a part of the Trojan family was all about.
“That was wonderful and heartwarming to make all those people happy.”
During games, Traveler has to work closely with another great USC tradition, the Trojan Marching Band.
“The band is super. We get along great,” Asman said. “We take the horse to band practice in the summer before the games start. Every year even if we know he is used to it we always take him back to band practice just so there is no surprises and the band loves to have him around.
“Coaches and the team have always been supportive of us as well. We stand in the tunnel as the team comes out and goes back down. A lot of the team pets him on the way down and we cheer for them on the way out.”
Traveler doesn’t travel for all the road games. He needs to be invited by the host school in order to make the trip. In recent years, Traveler made it to the Cotton Bowl for USC’s matchup with Ohio State, but fans didn’t get to see him much since the Trojans only scored once. For the Rose Bowl Game and Crosstown Showdown matchups at UCLA, Traveler is welcomed but the tight sidelines typically confine him to about a 30-foot area outside of the tunnel.
Traveler makes numerous other appearances besides USC football games in the Coliseum. He’s been to weddings, birthday parties, fundraisers and any other Trojan family or fan event you can think of.
Traveler has even ridden an elevator to the top of the Marriott Ritz Carlton in downtown Los Angeles, hung out at the luxurious Bonaventure Hotel and found his way into the grand ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel for different events.
Asman is hopeful that USC continues to allow her to run Traveler and keep the tradition going for years to come.
“To see how happy our horses make everybody and have people see the horse before the game is amazing. When you have five generations come by to take a picture with the horse, it makes your heart swell up to see how important of a tradition Traveler is to USC alumni.”