Fergus' Story
Equestrian artist, Jean Abernethy, had been creating horse cartoons for equine periodicals for about 15 years, always using generic horse characters to prevent her subjects from being pigeon-holed into a particular breed, discipline or sport. But the question kept arising from admiring readers: 'What is your horse's name?'
Having heard that question repeatedly, in 2000 Jean scribbled out a horse character and named him Fergus. He had a broad blaze, white stockings and very silly eyes. He was well accepted by many acquaintances who were familiar with her comical artwork.
At the same time, by happenstance, Jean had been hired by Pat & Monty Roberts to illustrate an instructional horse training book. Following the release of Monty's book, From My Hands to Yours, Jean went to work developing Fergus. Some of his first appearances were made in Pat & Monty's quarterly magazine, Join-Up Journal, teaching Monty's training methods.
In the early 2000s a line of T-shirts was started, bearing hilarious Fergus philosophies, some of which are still in production. Here is one of the earliest. The original art was ink and watercolour.
In 2003 Jean was asked if she could make comic strips. She answered "Yes" and then went about teaching herself how to do it. The Ocala Star Banner newspaper (Florida, USA) ran a weekly Fergus comic strip in their Pets Page from 2004 to 2007. Having accumulated a body of work, Jean learned to work with graphics programs, and began to scan and colour the comics digitally. When she introduced them to the world on Facebook in 2012, Fergus' popularity exploded. By 2015 Fergus had 317,000 Facebook fans.
Jean's first book, The Essential Fergus the Horse, was published by Trafalgar Square Books in 2015. It is a collection of the Fergus comic strips and includes a backstory of Jean's career, and how it all got started. Fergus was thereupon dubbed: "The World's Most Popular Cartoon Horse."
While Fergus continued to entertain fans on social media, Jean kept busy writing and illustrating.
Three children's books followed The Essential Fergus: Fergus: A Horse to be Reckoned With, in 2016, Fergus and the Greener Grass in 2017, and Fergus and The Night Before Christmas in 2018.
Just as COVID was closing down upon the world, Fergus reached his 20th anniversary. It's Been 20 Years Fergus, a second collection of comics, and Fergus' life story, launched in 2020. Since Jean could not travel, all promotions had to be online.
While Fergus continued to appear in periodical magazines, in 2025 Fergus appeared with a 4th children's book, Fergus and the Man Named Jim. It appears Fergus has not retired yet. Sincere gratitude goes out to all those who have loved and supported Fergus over the years. It's been a happy trail. So far...
