| Caption | Interesting fact, useless information or fallacious bar talk? A friend told me that there are strict conventions in how statues of mounted heroes are displayed, all dependent on the circumstances of the subjects’ demise. F’rinstance, if the horse has all four feet grounded, it means that the rider died in some other means not even related to equine exploits, although he/she probably had a horsey thing going as part of their public image; one leg raised signifies heroic deeds performed on horseback in battle sometime during the heroes’ lifetime but which did not actually result in death; and if, as in the case of Pancho Villa, who [could’ve] died in battle on horseback, the mount gets to have his two forefeet raised in gallant pose as a reminder of his active duty and ultimate service as a soldier in the cause. [In fact, Villa was assassinated 3 years after the Revolution driving his car through Chihuahua, so there goes that theory….] Villa took his fight into America. Pancho is a true hero to the Mexican people. One of the bloodiest battles of the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920 took place in Zacatecas against general Huerta in 1914, where this statue is found. |
