Horse with a Message

Fury stars a horse in its title role, but, insist its makers, the popular NBC daytime children's show is not another western "because it has no Indians and no saloons." What Fury does have sets it prairies apart from other outdoor TV films. Packed with each Saturday morning episode (11 a.m., E.S.T.) is a plain little moral. It may be a homely little philosophical truth or a wholesome primer on civil defense, bicycle safety, wildlife preservation or freedom of the press. Last week Fury's young friends ran into trouble with a predatory cougar because they had not completed their rifle safety course. But faithful as ever, Fury, a . beautiful black stallion, frightened the critter away.

"We aren't trying to preach or write down to the kids," explains Fury Producer Irving Cummings Jr. "We want to entertain them and still not contribute to their intellectual impoverishment." Though Cummings insists that Fury is not out to "win any wars," many of its fans' fathers may be reminded of the basic training films they endured during their service years. Yet youngsters have kept Fury's ratings remarkably high for 2 1/2 years (latest Nielsen: 20.4).

Fury's success is due less to the horse sense it propounds than the exciting horseflesh it displays. No ordinary nag, Fury (real name: Beauty) is one of the best-trained, best-paid horses in Hollywood, where his competition is keen. He lives quietly on a posh ranch in Van Nuys, Calif., works only four months a year and has brought Owner Ralph McCutcheon about $500,000 in eight years. His Fury fee: $1,500 a show. A saddlebred, eleven-year-old stallion standing 15 lands high, Fury has borne some of Hollywood's most famous bodies. He carried Elizabeth Taylor in Giant, Clark jable in Lone Star and Joan Crawford n Johnny Guitar.

Like most Hollywood stars, he is thoroughly pampered. Last fall when he caught a cold, he was shipped to Palm Springs for the cure. His manners are perfect. When the Fury staff gave a set party recently, Fury roamed politely from group to group, nibbled at a bowlful of carrots and celery and never took a drink. More alert than some of the actors he has to work with, he can master a routine after only two or three run-throughs. For TV Fury has had to kick a club out of a villain's hand while running near full gallop. And once when his pals were playing ball and needed a centerfield replacement, Fury stepped out on cue, trapped a ball on the bounce, between his teeth. Cracked one of the extras: "Those horses are all alike: good field, no hit."

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