From the Buffalo News:
The gleaming white circus tent with the bright red peak off the parkway above the falls is impressive, but who would guess that it shelters Russian circus royalty?
That unassuming man walking the backstage area among the Cirque Niagara acrobats exercising and stretching is creator Mairbeck Kantemirov, the scion of a circus dynasty that stretches back more than a century.
But that’s nothing compared to the pedigrees of the four-legged performers, horses who include some from 4,000-year-old bloodlines rarely seen in North America. The rare European breeds include the Trakenen, Tersk Horse, Orlov Trotter, Russian Trotter, Akhalteke, Russian Heavy Horse and Hannoveraner. One, a cream-colored albino Akhalteke stallion named Mametkul, watches the bustle with a piercing, blue-eyed gaze. In the next spacious stall, Ronald, a striking red-gray Russian Heavy Horse, extends his neck for a pat and nibbles passers-by, searching for treats.