The Adventures of Champion the Wonder Horse

The Adventures of Champion ran for one season on CBS from 1955 to 1956.  A total of 26 half-hour episodes were produced by Armand Schaefer for Gene Autry's Flying A Productions and directed by serial and western veterans George Archainbaud, Ford Beebe and John English.  Familiar cowboy faces abound including Roy Barcroft, Glenn Strange, George J. Lewis and Francis McDonald. 12-year-old Barry Curtis plays Ricky North, who lives on Uncle Sandy's ranch in the American Southwest near a herd of wild horses led by the wild stallion Champion.  Champ only allows his friend Ricky to ride him bareback.  The German shepherd Rebel helps his two pals survive their weekly adventures.  The characters of Ricky, Rebel, Champ and Sandy originated in a 1949-'50 radio serial that became a comic book for Dell from 1951 to 1955, so young fans were familiar with the premise long before the TV series.