Who Is The Baron's Traveling Horse (The Horse on the Steeple)?
The horse left hanging from a church tower
The Baron's Traveling Horse is the horse he rides on his way to Russia, famous for being found hanging from a church tower one morning. It has no name in the original story.
Traveling in the depths of winter, the Baron is overtaken by nightfall on a vast snowy plain. He ties his horse to what looks like a post sticking out of the snow and goes to sleep beside it. When he wakes, he finds himself in a village churchyard and hears his horse somewhere overhead. Looking up, he sees it dangling from the tower's weathercock, still tied by the reins.
The snow had melted overnight to reveal the village, and the "post" was the tip of the tower, which had been buried in snow. The Baron shoots through the reins with his pistol, retrieves his horse, and calmly continues on his way. Coming right at the start of the story, this is one of the book's signature tall tales, known even to many people who have never read it.
