Jul 20, 2024 By Brad Hundt 4 min read

Look out! There’s a horse on the loose in South Fayette Township!

You could be traveling down the road, going around a bend, and you could see the horse up in someone’s yard, quietly keeping watch as vehicles pass by, or staring serenely off into a distant horizon.

But don’t worry – there’s no need to summon the authorities. The equine that has been leaving his hoofprints across South Fayette is Trigger the Wandering Horse, a 100-pound creature made of hollow resin. He doesn’t neigh, he doesn’t need hay, he doesn’t buck and he leaves behind not a single trace of manure. But Trigger has become such a beloved figure in the community that he now has his own Facebook page and a waiting list of families eager to have him graze in their front yard.

How did Trigger become such a beloved figure?

It all started when Trigger’s owner, Ray Mantia, moved to South Fayette from a beef cattle farm in the Avella area. He put Trigger out in front of his home on Hickory Grade Road, and would occasionally shift him around. When a neighbor took notice, Mantia moved the horse into his yard when he was on vacation as a joke.

But the beginning of local Triggermania really got started when students on passing school buses would take notice of Trigger’s movements. The horse became so popular that students would chant his name as they passed by.

Before too long, there were requests from families to have Trigger “graze” at their abodes, and Mantia has been happy to oblige. His sister also launched a Facebook page called, simply, Trigger the Wandering South Fayette Horse, where his travels can be tracked. It has close to 1,000 members.

“My sister started getting a few requests,” Mantia explained. It doesn’t cost anything to have Trigger in your yard, and Mantia doesn’t mind loading up Trigger on his flatbed trailer and hauling him over at 3 a.m., so families can wake up and see it.

“If it brings a smile to somebody’s face, then it’s worth it,” Mantia said on a sweltering recent afternoon when Trigger was stationed at the Hastings Community for a child’s birthday celebration. “The kids like to think that it’s galloping, so we move it under the cover of darkness.”

“Trigger is like a grassroots mascot for South Fayette Township, and it’s cool that people feel unbridled joy to see him,” said Andrea Iglar, the township’s director of communications and community development. “It’s something fun the community can share.”

Iglar noted that Trigger was invited to Joy-Thru Fairview, a holiday lights event at Fairview Park last December, “and people enjoyed seeing him all lit up for the festivities.”

It’s not known precisely how old Trigger is, but his origins stretch back to a horse farm in Perryopolis that he stood out in front of. Mantia’s sister purchased the farm and had no need for the horse, but Mantia couldn’t quite bear the thought of Trigger being, shall we say, put out to pasture. So, he set about restoring it, pressure washing, sanding and painting it. The name Trigger was bestowed on him to honor the horse that singer and actor Roy Rogers used for his steed in his movies and radio show.

Stephen Kancel had Trigger in his yard on Christine Court last Fourth of July, where he was decked out in a patriotic hat and given a bale of hay.

“Lo and behold, Trigger showed up after it had been at our neighbor’s house,” Kancel explained. “A lot of people would stop by and take pictures in our yard.”

He added, “It’s a neat thing to be a part of.”

And there’s no sign that Trigger is slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s unbelievable to me that so many people enjoy it and request it,” Mantia said.