A C T I V I T Y 1

Horse Know-How
I ra ced d w i th t h e w i n d .
w i th the ea gle, soare
Reproducible Master

P a r t A . Find the answers to the clues at right Across Down

from the words shown in the box, then circle them Number of hours a horse sleeps A young male horse
in the puzzle, to test your horse know-how and within a 24-hour period Rain’s color
to learn about the new movie, Spirit: Stallion of Spirit’s breed What horses have a strong
the Cimarron. The name of Spirit’s herd sense of
The breed of Esperanza, Spirit and Little Creek escape
f b c q g r a s s h g d b w c a r m e Spirit’s mother together from this group.
r m o l w t h r e e t e q c m s t r e What horses graze on What a horse can easily do with
Little Creek’s tribe faraway sounds
k i z n b o e s r o m u s t a n g t i A young female horse A fully grown female horse
i r x p s c a e d a b n t u r m g n f Spirit must use all his courage to A fully grown male horse
get this back. A baby horse
r m c i m a r r o n a p a l o m i n o
Number of years a horse
a c o n e v s k e m t a l j u a f r a usually lives
n k l t l a k o t a u l l a e r f j l
a u t o l l o i t r a f i l l y y e l pinto grass twenty cavalry foal
colt hear Cimarron mare palomino
z w t q p r u f r e e d o m r s t y u three freedom smell filly Lakota
t w e n t y v s w v r d n b r q l p t stallion mustang

P a r t B . Use your horse knowledge to write five True or

False questions below. Make at least one of your questions
about Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Take your questions
home to test your family’s horse know-how.
My True or False Horse Quiz
1. ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________ Dear Parent or Guardian,
Your child is participating in a special educational program sponsored by
________________________________________________________ DreamWorks Pictures and Youth Media International. The program is
3. ______________________________________________________ based on themes and characters of the new animated feature Spirit:
Stallion of the Cimarron, coming to theaters near you on May 24, 2002.
________________________________________________________ An uplifting tale straight from the untamed American frontier, the film
tells the story of a rambunctious and courageous mustang stallion who
4. ______________________________________________________ defies being broken. The film is rated G. You and your children will thrill
to Spirit’s adventures as he loses—then gains—his freedom against the
________________________________________________________ backdrop of the ruggedly beautiful American West. Spirit: Stallion of the
Cimarron sends powerful and appropriate messages to children about
5. ______________________________________________________ courage, self-confidence and pride of heart and home.
Seeing this film with your child is a great way to spend quality time
________________________________________________________ together as a family. You can enhance the viewing experience by using the
following questions as the basis of a family discussion about the film.
1. What was the most exciting part of the story? Saddest part? Happiest
part? Best part?
2. How did it feel to see Spirit running free with his herd? To see him
captured?
3. Did the music help you better understand the story?
4. Who was your favorite and least favorite character? Why?
5. What do you think is the most important message in this movie?
Encourage your children to read stories about horses and America’s Old
West this summer.
©2002 YMI Ltd.
 Sizes, Shapes and
Colors—Oh My!
A C T I V I T Y 2
Reproducible Master

u i t e li k e h e r b efore , an
I n e ve r m e t a ny on e q hi s .
d I’d never seen a place like t

P a r t A . In the movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Rain—Pinto

Spirit is a mustang stallion and Rain is a “paint,” or pinto, Pintos come from many different breeds but their
mare. Read on to find out more about mustangs and pintos. coloring is what makes them special. A pinto’s
coat can be a solid background color covered
Spirit—Mustang with patches of white. Rain is an example of the
The word “mustang” comes from the “overo” (o-ver-o) pattern. Her coat is a solid color
Spanish word “mesteño,” which means broken up by large patches of white. Pintos’ coats
“wild” or “stray.” Mustangs are also known can also appear as white with large areas of any
as feral horses. They are descended from solid color, known as tobiano (to-bi-an-o).
domestic horses that escaped or were freed The pinto was a favorite horse of the Native Americans. Its
by Spanish explorers. Over time, these coat blended in with the colors of the landscape and kept the
horses bred with other breeds of domestic rider well hidden in hunting or battle. This is why in Spirit:
horses from Native Americans, ranches and the cavalry. Stallion of the Cimarron, Rain’s keeper is Little Creek, the
Spirit is a Kiger mustang. This means his bloodlines are Lakota brave.
traced back to the original Spanish horses of the early Use the information on the Spirit poster to identify these
explorers. In the days of the Old West, over one million horses. Then color their coats according to the horse color
mustangs roamed freely in herds! Now there are only section of the poster.
around 40,000 living mostly in the West.

P a r t B . What is your favorite horse? Choose one from the Spirit poster. Then use the information P a r t C . Follow
on the poster to complete the following sentences. your teacher’s
directions to make
My Favorite Horse 1. It is classified as a ________________________.
paper chains that
Write the name of your horse on this line 2. Its size is bigger than _______________________. really show the
___________________________________________ 3. Its size is smaller than _____________________. sizes of these
and draw a picture of it below. 4. The most unusual thing about my horse horses! Which
paper chain shows
is ______________________. the size of Spirit?
5. I chose this horse as my favorite because Which shows the
_________________________________________ size of Rain?
_________________________________________.

©2002 YMI Ltd.

 Horse Talk
a n y , bu t o u r
The hoof bea t s were m h e a r ts b e
A C T I V I T Y 3
Reproducible Master
a t as one.
The horse characters in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron P a r t A . Living in Groups
communicate the way real horses do. Play the word games
Choose the word that completes the sentence.
below to find out some of the things the filmmakers had to
learn about horses in order to make the movie. sight smell domesticated fight foals herds sounds threaten
Mustangs like to live in __________ with one stallion, his
mares, and their _________. The horses in a herd know one
another by __________, sound and ____________.
Horses hardly ever ____________. Instead, they only
____________ each other when they are mad. Whether wild
or __________________ , horses understand each other by
______________ and body language.

Part B. Body Language Unscramble the words.

1. When Spirit’s ______ are pinned back, he is sending a warning that he is ready to fight.
rsea
2. When Rain cocks one ear forward, she is showing that she is ____________. When one ear is pointed _____________
icorusu wadfror
and the other backward, it means she is uncertain.
3. When Spirit ___________ up on his hind legs, this often means he is happy and wants to ___________.
earsr yapl
But if he rears with his front paws out, he is _____________.
rynag
4. Spirit shows he is __________ when he holds his __________ high and lifts his tail up.
cixeedt dahe
5. Spirit is bored or tired when his body looks _____________.
lsupmed
6. Horses can be impatient and nervous! They show this by ____________ the ground with a front foot.
npgaiw
7. Spirit and Rain show friendship with a _____________. They also like to ____________ one another.
zlnzue rogom

Part C. i e g h t n
Sounds Have Meaning c k e r e b
Horses make lots of different k t o l s t
sounds. Not all of them mean
something, but six special sounds s n a n l b
carry important messages. Find s q u e a l
the following horse sounds s n f i e o
within the box at right. Your
teacher will help you guess e a l g q w
what each sound means. e i g h n t
neigh squeal nicker r e k c i n
blow snort whinny w h i n n y
©2002 YMI Ltd.
 Horses and Humans—
e is no A Spirited Bond
A C T I V I T Y 4

Homeland—a place where ther

Reproducible Master

n d o ur h om e.
boundary bet ween our heart a
P a r t A . Horses and humans go back a long way. Spirit: pictures below show that Spirit and Little Creek slowly
Stallion of the Cimarron shows an exciting part of this become friends. Number the pictures in the right order.
history. Even though Spirit refuses to be broken, the

P a r t B . What do you think is important to know about question is already provided in each category. You must add
taking care of a horse to help form a special bond between two more to each, plus a new category of your own. Use a
horse and owner? blank sheet of paper to write the answers to your questions.
Begin your horse owner’s research with a few questions.
The categories below will help you organize your work. One
P a r t C . If you
o ok
Horse Owne r’s Noteb
could own a horse,
what kind would it
be? What would
ass? you name it? Turn
horse eat besides gr _______________
Di et —What does a ___ _________________________________________ your paper over to
_________
_________________________ _______________ draw a picture of
___________________________ ___ _____________ _________________________________
____ your horse. Use
_________________________
___________________________ the poster
m a horse?
in g — W hy is it important to groo ______________
information to
Gr oo m
_____ _____________ ___________________________________ help with coat
__________________________ ______________
___________________________ ________ __________________________________________ colors and special
___
__________________________ markings.
___________________________
in a horse?
W he n is the best time to tra ____________
Tr ai ni ng —
________ _____________________________________________
_
___________________________ ____________
___________________________ _____________ _______________________________________
__
___________________________
___________________________
horses?
s of eq ui pm en t are needed for riding
Ri di ng —What kind ___________
____________ _________________________________________
__
___________________________ ___________
___________________________ ___________ __________________________________________
__
___________________________
___________________________ __________
___ ___________________ _______________________________
: _________________
M y Ca te go ry Id ea _____ __________________ ___________________________
_________
_______
___________________________
___________________________ __
___________________________
__________________________ ___________________________
__ _
Qu es ti on s: __________ ____ ___________________________
___________________________
______________________
____________ ___________________________
__
___________________________ _ __________________________________
__________________
___________
___________________________ ©2002 YMI Ltd.