Lady Wonder (February 9, 1924 – March 19, 1957) was a mare some claimed to have psychic abilities and be able to perform intellectually demanding tasks such as arithmetic and spelling. Lady’s owner, Claudia E. Fonda, trained her to operate a device that she used to spell out answers to the more than 150,000 visitors. Lady was said to have predicted the outcome of boxing fights and political elections, and was consulted by the police in criminal investigations. The parapsychologist researcher J. B. Rhine investigated Lady’s alleged abilities and concluded that there was evidence for extrasensory perception between human and horse. The magicians and skeptical investigators Milbourne Christopher and John Scarne showed that Lady’s prediction abilities resulted from Mrs. Fonda employing mentalism tricks and signaling the answers to Lady.
First Appearance Historical figure (b. 1924 – d. 1957)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Article: “An investigation of a “mind reading” horse” and “Second report on Lady, the “mind-reading” horse” by L. E. Rhine in The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 23-24 (1929), “Lady Wonder 1952” in Richmond Times-Dispatch, “‘Talking Horse’ Gave Tip in Matson Case – Dewing” in The Boston Globe (6 December 1952), “Heart attack fatal to Lady Wonder” in Richmond Times-Dispatch (20 March 1957). Podcast: Astonishing Legends: Episode 179-180 Lady Wonder.
Sample Read Astonishing Legends: Episode 179 Lady Wonder Part 1 [YT]
Description Lady Wonder (February 9, 1924 – March 19, 1957) was a mare some claimed to have psychic abilities and be able to perform intellectually demanding tasks such as arithmetic and spelling. Lady’s owner, Claudia E. Fonda, trained her to operate a device that she used to spell out answers to the more than 150,000 visitors. Lady was said to have predicted the outcome of boxing fights and political elections, and was consulted by the police in criminal investigations. The parapsychologist researcher J. B. Rhine investigated Lady’s alleged abilities and concluded that there was evidence for extrasensory perception between human and horse. The magicians and skeptical investigators Milbourne Christopher and John Scarne showed that Lady’s prediction abilities resulted from Mrs. Fonda employing mentalism tricks and signaling the answers to Lady.
