It’s been a banner year for horse-centric entertainment in Vancouver. A touring Broadway production of War Horse recently rode into the Queen E. and PNE racehorses made a surprise appearance last month in the new play Except in the Unlikely Event of War.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse got back in the saddle at Rogers Arena, Band of Horses joined the herd at the Squamish Valley Music Festival and Gov’t Mule kicked out the jams at the Commodore. A world-renowned jackass also made headlines after canceling not one but two local shows.

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But these are all also-rans in terms of spectacle compared to Cavalia’s new show Odysseo, currently running under the giant Big Top set up next to the Olympic Village.

There’s an old saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. I’d be willing to bet Cavalia’s resident horse whisperers could probably lead a horse to water and persuade it to do a synchronized swimming routine or try skimboarding.

Cavalia’s founder, Normand Latourelle, began his career with Cirque du Soleil and shows have a similar vibe, except that along with all the usual gravity-defying acrobatics, breathtaking special effects, absence of narrative and overwrought musical numbers with incomprehensible lyrics, there’s also a whole bunch of horses. It’s basically Cirque du Cheval. (According to Wikipedia, “Cavalia” is actually a made-up word combining the Spanish and French words for horse (caballo and cheval) with “cavalry.” I’m not sure about “Odysseo” but I’m guessing it’s Dothraki.)

Mister Ed raised the bar for amazing horse stuff pretty high half a century ago and, while none of the nearly 70 all-male Odysseo horses have followed in his footsteps and mastered the ability to talk, they nonetheless easily communicate with their two-legged co-stars. They’re truly amazing to watch, whether its patiently permitting the antics of their daredevil riders, galloping unbridled around the dirt track and makeshift mountain that constitutes the stage or being guided through choreographed routines by verbal cues.

Back-to-back entertainment!

If Christmas shopping hasn’t left you flat broke and you’re still able to pony up the cash for tickets, I highly recommend checking it out. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Superdogs.

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