He’s making hay.
A local horse named Billy has built quite the resume. He’s appeared as the carriage horse for Hugh Jackman’s character in “The Greatest Showman;” mesmerized Meryl Streep in “Little Women;” stole Carrie Coon’s heart on the set of “The Gilded Age” and had a scene-stealing run at The Metropolitan Opera House’s “Aida.”
The 20-year-old Norwegian Fjord — a stocky, relatively rare breed easily recognizable for their dun-colored coat and striking black-and-white mane and tail — is also the inspiration for the new book “The Star Horse” by Sarah Maslin Nir.
“There’s not a lot of horses doing what he does, especially that breed,” Billy’s owner and trainer John Allegra, 72, told The Post of the in-demand steed, who lives on a farm in East Haddam, Connecticut.
Allegra first got Billy when he was 5-years-old with plans of making him a star. Billy cut his teeth attending weddings and town events before going Hollywood.
His big break came around 2017, when he was cast as a carriage horse for Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum character in “The Greatest Showman.”
“Billy is the greatest showman — he just [pulled] a carriage in the scene. He wasn’t one of the circus animals although he could have been,” Allegra quipped.
Maslin Nir met Billy in 2019, when she was reporting her book, “Horse Crazy.” She helped lead him on-stage at The Met in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Aida” which tells the story of love and betrayal against the backdrop of war.
“It was one of those moments as a journalist that’s so unbelievable,” Maslin Nir recalled of the experience. “It sounds like something out of a children’s fairy tale.”
Billy played an Egyptian war horse belonging to the romantic hero. The star horse trotted on stage during the grand Triumphal March in Act II — arguably one of the most famous scenes in operatic history — to the tune of several trumpeters amid a packed stage of around 150 actors carrying spears and swords.
Allegra said Billy stayed remarkably calm in the big moment, thanks to his training and inherently chill nature.
The proud stage dad also boasted that his horse instantly got the role, in part because he fit the time period. The Norwegian Fjord breed dates back 4,000 years.
“It’s a very old breed. He fit the mold for that show perfectly,” Allegra said, noting that fans would line up for photos with Billy before the show.
“They’d say, ‘oh my god, look at the horse,’” he recalled.
In 2019, Billy starred alongside Meryl Streep in “Little Women.” Allegra also appeared in the film as Billy’s handler — and got a shout from Streep.
“Meryl Streep said, ‘I thank you. I appreciate your expertise in keeping me safe!’” he recalled.
Billy stepped into his nobility era in 2022, landing a role in “The Gilded Age” as Carrie Coon’s Mrs. Bertha Russell carriage horse.
He appears perched outside her Vanderbilt-mansion inspired Park Avenue home on the series.
“He’s an exotic horse pulling Mrs. Russell. [Coons] fell in love with him. Who wouldn’t ? Everybody loves Billy!” Allegra said, adding that the horse will appear in the upcoming third season of the acclaimed show.
While Billy’s real life journey to stardom is the inspiration for her new book, Maslin Nir added an endearing twist.
In the fictional version of his life, Billy finds the role that gives him the most meaning is becoming a therapeutic riding horse at the real-life therapeutic riding stable GallopNYC in Queens.
It helps over 500 disabled New Yorkers a week.
“Horses for 10,000 years have been a partner to humankind and they give us the gift of their power,” Maslin Nir told The Post, “whether it’s trotting center stage and stealing the show or helping vulnerable people feel brave and strong and heal.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
