Overview
- The horse, named Proton, was presented just before Wednesday’s General Audience at the Vatican, where the pope smiled and walked alongside the animal with the donor.
- Proton is a 12-year-old purebred Arabian with a light grey-white coat.
- The pedigree links to Kahil, born in the United States from a Qatari program, and to a Jordanian line associated with Princess Alia Al Hussein.
- Andrzej Michalski said he was inspired by photos of the future pope on horseback in Peru and chose a white horse to echo the papal cassock.
- Michalski’s stud farm promotes hippotherapy for people with disabilities, and the Vatican customarily channels papal gifts to charitable causes through auctions.