One week from tonight, Parks and Recreation will conclude its seventh and last season with each of the main, human characters alive and well. The big casualty of the series came at the end of season three, when the sadistic writers rubbed out Pawnee's pride and joy: a 32-inch horse named Li'l Sebastian (whose fictional death inspired actual body art). Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) and his Mouse Rat bandmates paid homage with "5,000 Candles in the Wind (Bye Bye, Li'l Sebastian)," a performance Pratt reprised at the series wrap party. Esquire located the West Coast-based equine actor who played Li'l Sebastian, Gideon, and spoke with his trainer Morgan Bateman of A-List Animals.
What kind of horse is Li'l Sebastian (real name: Gideon)?
He's a miniature horse, not a pony. Ponies aren't proportionate at all—they have big fat heads and big bodies and little legs. If you took him on a copy machine and blew him up, you would end up with a correct-sized horse.
What does training him entail?
For [Parks and Rec] there were certain things he had to do to like come across frame or stand in frame and stay there. He can rear on cue. He paws at the ground. He shows his teeth and he smiles. He's pretty smart and he likes food [laughs], so if he gets a reward, that's what motivates him—a horse cookie or a carrot.
How's his temperament?
He's pretty outgoing but he can be feisty with the other horses. He's a sassy little guy when he wants to be. He's pretty much the smallest guy. He lives with full-sized horses. Actually one of his girlfriends is humongous.
Girlfriends? He has multiple girlfriends?
If he could pick one horse to be around, her name is Melena. She's an Andalusian. If you take them apart from each other he'll whinny for her and make lots of noises. I think she doesn't really care as much about him as he does about her. He fits underneath her. They're funny, like the odd couple. Princess is another one that hangs out in that group.
Where does he live?
It's a ranch that [A-List Animals has] in Piru, CA [population: 2,063]. We've got about 150 acres. When he has a job, we bring him into the barn a day or two beforehand. We get him groomed up. But most of the time they're out in the big pasture with each other just getting to be horses. It's not like a normal riding stable where they have to be ridden every day. And they stay with us pretty much 'til the end of their life. Most horses live like 25 to 30-ish years.
How many other horses are on the ranch?
Over a hundred. They're all different movie horses. Sadly, he's probably not the most famous. People are like, "That's the Old Spice horse!" Actually quite a few horses played that part—Aspen, Mickey, Pierce, Double X. [Gideon]'s the only one of him.
What qualities do you look for when scouting horses for the screen?
Really gentle and not scared of anything. What's most important for us is to make sure that they're as comfortable and confident in their environment. No matter if there's an 18-wheeler behind the scenes that they have to walk past to get to the set.
What'd you think of his Parks and Rec episodes?
I liked it all. I thought it was pretty funny. When they did the memorial for him, I'm actually the one walking the other ponies on the stage. It was Coconut and Scout [playing Ladybug] that day.
How did you react when the writers decided to kill off Li'l Sebastian?
It was sad but at the same time they were confident that they would see him again, so it wasn't the end of the world. We've filmed stills, he's come back for flashbacks.
What do you remember about shooting the memorial?
One of the ponies pooped on the stage. And of course they were like, "Don't clean it up!" They were using lingo on the walkies—"There's a package. Ladybug has dropped a package on the stage. We have to roll on it." They thought that that was hilarious.
Are there rules about how much time a horse can spend onset?
There's actually not. As a trainer it's my responsibility to watch that animal, to interpret how they're feeling, to know what's going on so that if they're stressed, if something's wrong, or if they've been there too long, I talk to production and say, "Can we take a break?" American Humane [Association] was there the whole time. They're the ones that monitor the animal action onset.
The NBC store sells t-shirts and posters featuring his likeness. Does his owner get a percentage?
No [laughs]. Those [photos] are stuff they took on the set so the ownership belongs to them. We have gotten memorabilia off the show. I've still got his papers from his eulogy. They actually printed pamphlets [for the funeral]. There's information inside about him. It's really funny. They were really nice to let us hold on to that.
Do you think his life has changed at all since being on Parks and Rec?
I would love to say yes but I don't think he's really changed a whole lot other than when he's on other jobs, people will recognize him. People that come up to the ranch and visit, they see him and they'll be like, "Can I get a picture with him?"
He's been on Parks and Rec and the CW series Hart of Dixie. Anywhere else?
He was on a commercial recently—I think it was for Honda Civic. You can't really tell because they actually took his head off and made a centaur out of him. He works all the time. I think he worked background on Daddy Day Care. If there's a petting zoo scene, he's usually in the background. He gets along with all different kinds of animals—dogs, cats, goats, zebras.
Do you train other animals besides horses?
I get the opportunity to train all the other animals on the ranch. Yesterday was housecats wearing goggles. They custom-made these goggles and we had to train the cats to paw in the air as if they were watching a 3-D thing, but of course they're not. That was for a commercial.
Is it a stressful job?
Sometimes you're like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe they're asking me to do that! Like with Gideon where he had to wear the blanket [advertising the Snakehole Lounge] and be in the corn maze. Sometimes production will ask you to do something that's really odd. You have to be creative and be able to make situations happen for them.
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