TOWAMENCIN- This past Tuesday, the Knight Riders Club collaborated with the Astronomy Club to put on its 10th annual Heavenly Horses performance. The two groups cantered to the auditorium where myths and constellations met as North Penn High School astronomy teacher and club adviser, Mr. Bauman displayed the starry stables of the winter sky.

“We are in the middle of winter and there’s bad weather for riding, but we love horses. There are horses in so many aspects of everyday life. There’s intriguing stories and myths of the constellation horses,” commented North Penn Knight Riders advisor Dr. Melody Leithold. “Mr. Bauman and the Astronomy Club pitch in and we do a collaborative here. They’re gonna tell us about the myths of how the horses got into the heavens.”

The display focused on the myths and legends behind two specific constellations: the Pegasus and the Centaurus. The Pegasus constellation resides in the Northern hemisphere while the Centaurus resides in the Southern hemisphere. Both legends stem from Greek Mythology. The Pegasus is a white winged horse that sprang from the neck of the Gorgon Medusa when Perseus beheaded her. The Centaurus is one of the largest constellations in the sky. It represents the half-man, half-horse creature Chiron, who mentored the Greek heroes Hercules, Peleus, Achilles, Theseus and Perseus (Constellation Guide).

“The constellations have always been there. They’ve always been in lots of different cultures. We have some for the Greeks and some for the Romans. There’s constellations from the Mayans and Aztecs. There are constellations from many of our Native American tribes and many of them they have at least one horse,” said Leithold.

“I knew about them because my father was a naturalist. When I was very tiny he taught me my stars and my constellations so I knew there were horses.”

Looking ahead, any student, faculty, or community member may join the Knight Riders as they trot off to the Horse World Expo in Harrisburg, PA. This event takes place the first weekend in March. The all day event has three rings where regular, English, and Western shows will be featured. Attendees can expect shopping, great food, and a variety of demonstrations and shows.

“[This has been a tradition for ] 10 years so it’s become an annual event here at North Penn and we wish somehow we could get more students to realize we do this,” shared Leithold.