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Malgré Tout is the name of King Christian 10's white horse. As you may know, Malgré Tout also means "despite everything" or "in spite of everything" in French. You can read much more about it in the article "Malgré Tout - Having a Horse Despite Everything." However, here you can read a bit about the king and his white gelding, whom we, the horse medium Malgré Tout, are named after.
The thing is, King Christian 10 and his horse Malgré Tout truly defied something. Together, they rode across the old border to Germany in connection with the Reunion on July 10, 1920. It's been 100 years this year. In this way, they marked that Southern Jutland was no longer German, as it had been since the war in 1864.
They also defied the rumors that Malgré Tout was not a white horse. It was indeed chalked white to appear even cleaner, but it was, in fact, classified as a white horse. They defied the myth that it was albino. And they also defied the crowd the day after the Reunion, which caused the mounting not to go as planned.
A witness from that time explains:
"When the King tried to mount the horse, it became restless. Twice the King attempted to climb, but in vain. The third time, he succeeded, but in a bucking jump, it threw off the King, leaped over him, and kicked him with the hind hoof on the inside of the left thigh. Despite the accident, the King promptly mounted and rode it forward toward the town."
Isn't that exactly how it is to have a horse? Along with happiness, occasionally come a few small accidents, but they only serve to strengthen the bond.
Malgré Tout was truly exceptional for the king. Just like your horse is for you, and your stablemate's horse is for him or her.
The horse Malgré Tout was born in France and purchased by a Danish count couple, who gave it the name. King Christian received it because a woman once prophesied that he would ride into Southern Jutland on a white horse when the region would become Danish again. So when the Reunion was approaching, the count couple offered the king to borrow Malgré Tout.
A couple of years after the historic ride across the border, Malgré Tout's days ended. Whether it was caused by a shot or illness is uncertain, but in any case, it developed a bad leg and had to be put down. Some believed that the legendary horse should be stuffed. After a long discussion, however, they silver-plated its hooves, engraved its name on one of them, and sent it to Christian 10. The rest of the horse was buried at Visborggaard near Hadsund, where it had lived with the count couple. Right there, today, a stone stands in its honor, with the following inscription:
The white horse
I, the king, carried across the border,
when Southern Jutland became Danish again.
July 10, 1920
The story of Christian 10 and Malgré Tout is not just a story about a king and his horse. For most horse owners, the tale must be fully recognizable, and therefore, it is equally a story about the relationship between horse and rider in general. We are sure that your horse has also carried you through great moments - both beautiful and challenging. That's simply what it means to be a horse owner; you're there for each other, you take the good with the bad, and one day you have to say goodbye. But then you've also had a truly unique friendship - despite everything.
Below, you can watch a video of Christian 10 on his white horse, Malgré Tout.
