`` Horsey ! '' scream the children staring in awe at the glossy chestnut thoroughbred towering above them . Their tiny hands press against the glass encasing Australia 's most beloved race horse -- Phar Lap . But despite their excited squealing and impatient jostling , the impressive 1.74-meter tall gelding will never lower his glassy stare in their direction . He 'll never twitch his ears , flick his tail , or gallop down the race track with the remarkable speed which made him a national hero during the darkest days of the 1930s Depression . Phar Lap has been dead for 81 years . His body however , looks barely a day over six-years-old , frozen in time thanks to taxidermy -- the art of stuffing animal skins for display . The champion thoroughbred is one of many legendary taxidermy horses exhibited in museums around the world -- forever ready to run their next race , charge onto the battle field , or star on the big screen . `` Taxidermy is a way to immortalize their story , as well as their actions and deeds , '' said Michael Reason , curator of the Phar Lap exhibition at Australia 's Melbourne Museum . `` Museums are all about experiencing ` the real thing , ' so presenting a preserved specimen is a way of doing that . '' Equine legends live on . From Napoleon 's horse , Le Vizir , on display at the Army Museum in Paris , to actor Roy Rogers ' trusty sidekick , Trigger , exhibited at a U.S. TV network , the intriguing world of equine taxidermy is far from , well , dead . `` What makes preserved famous creatures so different from hunting trophies or natural history specimens , is that most taxidermy is about preserving the animal 's form -- you 're not really trying to capture the spirit of the animal , '' said Rachel Poliquin , author of The Breathless Zoo : Taxidermy and the Cultures of Longing . `` With famous creatures such as Phar Lap , you 're preserving it because the animal has done something which is more than animal -- it has qualities such as courage , fortitude , endurance , which we like to think are in the human domain . '' Enter Comanche . There is perhaps no horse which embodies those virtues quite like Comanche . The gelding gained legendary status as the sole survivor on the U.S. Cavalry side of the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn -- fought between General Custer 's troops and native American Indians . Two days after the clash which killed hundreds of combatants , Comanche was discovered on the battlefield -- badly injured , but alive . When he died from colic 15 years later he was buried with full military honors , while his skin was preserved . Today , long after the soldiers who rode him have turned to dust , Comanche 's taxidermy body remains standing to attention at Kansas University 's Natural History Museum . `` Comanche stands for many more things than being the lone survivor on the Cavalry side -- he stands for the relentless march of the European settlers across the great plains and the war against the Indians , '' said Leonard Krishtalka , director of the Biodiversity Institute at Kansas University . `` Why do we taxidermy animals , or make wax models , or copy archaeological monuments , or hold historical re-enactments ? I guess it 's a way of understanding history better , of bringing it to life . '' Strike a pose . But taxidermy , much like history , is never free from our own manipulation . When cowboy actor Roy Rogers had his sidekick , Trigger , stuffed in 1965 , it was in a pose befitting a screen star . Rearing on his hind legs and wearing an elaborately studded saddle , the golden palomino who appeared alongside Rodgers in dozens of films , was auctioned for a whopping $ 266,500 to cable company RFD-TV in 2010 . It appears that in death , Trigger had become larger than life . `` A taxidermy animal is just the skin of the animal , and of course the skin has no inherent shape or pose . '' Poliquin said . `` And that 's where the artistry and the human manipulation become involved . '' `` Are you going to pose the lion sleeping or attacking an antelope ? All those decisions come in manufacturing the ultimate spectacle . '' Art imitating life . While taxidermy attempts to recreate animals , it actually uses very little of their original parts . Instead , the skin is usually stretched over an artificial skeleton and preserved with chemicals . Features such as glass eyes or synthetic tongues are also added . `` You have to have a solid knowledge of anatomy , '' said Krishtalka . `` One of the big problems with early taxidermy , was that the skin was susceptible to insect infestation . `` Virtually all the animals that have been stuffed before 1960 have great quantities of arsenic on them and still have to be handled with gloves . '' Alluring animals . There is something both disconcerting and mesmerizing about coming face-to-face with animals who teeter in the realm between life and death . In the case of our hero horses , there is also a deep emotional turmoil at play -- we hold these animals in such high esteem that we feel compelled to stuff them for display . Perhaps Poliquin sums up the enduring allure of taxidermy best : `` There 's a psychological twist that you can never fully get to the bottom of . ''
From race horses to war horses , museums display taxidermy equines . The Comanche , lone horse of 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn . This involves stretching real animal skin over artificial skin . Enduring life as horse , in realm between life and death .