El-Escritor.com
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FEATURE
ARTICLE
The Fabled Saddles
of MORDO
Sampling the
Fleisher Collection |
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The
FABLED SADDLES OF
Sampling
the Fleischer Collection
Story
by Ronald Harris
from the October 2001 Issue of
Cowboys & Indians Magazine.
Photos by Steve Thornton
It is
said that when Mexican Revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata strode
triumphantly through the Presidential Palace in Mexico City, his
men were disappointed that El Presidente presided from an
armchair instead of a saddle. Real leaders, men like Zapata
and Pancho Villa, led from horseback and the only worthy throne
was a saddle.
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Tribute to a
Working Cowboy by Jim Kelly of Cody, Wyoming, depicts
the life stages of a cowboy on its fenders, skirts, and jockies. |
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Arizona
entrepreneur Morton H. Fleischer is that kind of leader, with
125 saddles from which to lead. His cache of cowboy
culture culminates in collections of Western memorabilia
unrivaled but for a few private and public museums. Such
studied accumulation demands not only the urge to acquire, but
the time, energy, and means as well. Mort Fleischer -- by
definition a self-made man -- has it all, in spades. |
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The saddle as throne. The Queen of the Art of
Revolutionary period Mexican saddlery, this masterpiece was
crafted by Fusteria Moderna, c. 1900. |
As the stately gates of Fleischer's MorDo Ranch swing open,
first-time guests have no notion of the artifacts within, no
inkling of the esoteric Americana reposing in the romantic
architecture of the elegant estancia. Even those familiar
with Mort and Donna Fleischer and Franchise Finance Corporation
of America (FFCA) are struck by the presentation of the 200-acre
estate in Rio Verde, Arizona.
What's in a
Name?
MorDo is, of
course, an acronym for Mort and Donna, but Fleischer enjoys the
double entendre. "It also stands for what you need to
operate a rancho like this," he says. More dough,
indeed. An opulent oasis in the desiccate desert near
Scottsdale, MorDo Ranch resembles the magnificent estancias of
the Argentine pampas. The ranch exudes Old World style and
Southwestern warmth, at once cozy and lavish, charming and
imposing. MorDo, however, was built not on grass and
cattle but on the arcane art of high finance. |
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The alligator hides
of this King Ranch cowboy's dress rig were the poker proceeds
from a lucky night in 1915. |
Art,
Architecture,
and Applehorns
Dubbed "King
of the Big Square Boxes" by Forbes magazine for being the
largest financier of single-tenant restaurant real estate,
Fleischer's FCCA was recently acquired by General Electric's
finance division in a $2 billion-plus deal. Fleischer's
business acumen complements his love of art, architecture, and
the Old West. His office is the inner sanctum of his
famous Fleischer Museum of American Impressionism, and the
museum is the heart of Scottsdale's Perimeter Center, a 260-acre
Fleischer development and one of Arizona's best-known corporate
addresses. There are chairs in his office, of course, but
there is also a silver-mounted Bohlin saddle.
Donna Fleischer
is executive director of the Fleischer Museum and a graduate
horticulturist who propagates flowers and plants in her
greenhouse when not riding one of MorDo's prize cutting
horses. La Dona Donna is a spirited soul and often wins in
cutting horse competitions around the Southwest.
The ranch remuda
of some 50 horses is largely the handiwork of MorDo's prize
Quarter Horse stallion As Smart as the Fox (also called
"Einstein" for short). Donna Fleischer's other
"pals" include Tanka, the buffalo; Toy, the Hereford
steer; Earl, a five-year-old longhorn; and Hercules, a miniature
Brahma bull.
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