One of the enduring images of Ronald Reagan is of him riding on horses on his California ranch. The former actor who became the United States' 40th president was known as an outdoorsy type with a fondness for animals.
Before, during, and after Reagan's time in office (1981-89), Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan were often seen on horseback. The couple also owned several dogs, though they didn't initially bring any to the White House.
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A tiny black Bouvier des Flanders was presented to the Reagans on Dec. 6, 1984, by the 1985 March of Dimes poster child, Kristen Ellis. The dog was named "Lucky," after Nancy Reagan's mother, Edith Luckett Davis.
Because of his size and bull-in-a-china-shop presence, the Reagans re-located Lucky to the family's Rancho del Cielo over the 1985 Thanksgiving holiday,
according to the Reagan Presidential Library.
There Lucky could roam free and play with other dogs, including Victory, a golden retriever, and two black Scottish terriers, Scotch and Soda.
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Less than a month later, President Reagan gave his wife a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for Christmas, named Rex, who helped flick the switch to light the White House Christmas tree.
America Comes Alive reported that Rex lived extravagantly, in a dog house with "white clapboard with red velvet drapes and framed photos of the President and First Lady that hung on the interior walls."
The Presidential Pet Museum mentions that Reagan also owned an Irish setter named Peggy, a Siberian husky named Taca, a Belgian sheepdog named Fuzzy and several horses.
America Comes Alive writes about a pet goldfish that was sent by a young boy after John Hinkley's failed assassination attempt.
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