CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The private jet owned by Bill and Liz Armstrong was stocked with SMU royalty as it hurled through the air from Dallas to Charlotte for the ACC championship game. 

Pony Express stars Craig James and Lance McIlhenny were part of the 14-person entourage. As were Board of Trustee members Richard Ware and Connie O’Neill. The clash against Clemson for a guaranteed spot in the first 12-team College Football Playoff was on the line. The biggest game for the Ponies since James and McIlhenny marched down the field on opponents in the early 1980s. 

But it was a missing member of the SMU family that was the main topic of conversation.

Peruna was a patent medicine popularized in the late 1800s as a cure-all for “the ills of winter” such as coughs, colds, and bronchitis. It packed more of a punch than a cure given the bunk elixir was at least 25% alcohol. The word “Peruna” was introduced into the SMU fight song in the 1910s and the live mascot – a black Shetland Pony – was dubbed with the same moniker in 1932. 

Peruna I also packed a kick as it famously killed the Fordham ram Ramses in the 1934 season – an event Fordham insists is more legend than history – with a swift kick to its head on the sideline of a game in New York. One that the pony reached inside of a taxi. Turns out, transporting Peruna IX to Charlotte was a much more difficult task. A task Liz Armstrong took as a personal challenge. 

“That horse is running on the field when we play in Charlotte,” Liz announced confidently on the plane ride to the ACC championship game. “It would mean so much to our players and our fans. That little horse is part of our family.” 

The Armstrongs are arguably the biggest reason SMU’s football team is in the College Football Playoff. Bill met Liz as a freshman in geology class at SMU. They graduated in 1982 – at the height of the Pony Express. He remembers parties attended by the football players and the frats and, yes, Peruna. He set out a few years ago to return the student experience on the Hilltop to the one he remembered. And that includes the Shetland Pony. 

Liz found out at a party on the Wednesday leading into the ACC championship game week that Peruna couldn’t roam the sidelines at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte where the Carolina Panthers play. The athletic department had 2,000 worries and tasks to complete by Saturday night, and Peruna was one of the smaller ones. 

Pony Express members like James, McIlhenny, and Eric Dickerson attended the Wednesday spirit party. As did Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and his wife, Tavia. Their daughter is a student and a cheerleader at SMU. And that gave Liz an idea.

Like Peruna – the elixir and the pony – the Mustang alumni base is small but mighty. If the Panthers were holding up Peruna’s involvement at the ACC championship game, surely a call from the Hunt family could resolve the issue. 

“The field is turf and he’s tiny,” Liz said of the playing surface in Charlotte and the stature of Peruna. “Once Tavia was on it, I knew we’d get it done.” 

Tavia went to work. She called her friend, Carolyn Wright, who is the Panthers' Chief Venues Officer. They've had a 1,000-pound mustang named Warpaint run at Arrowhead and assured the Panthers that Peruna, who is "tiny but mighty" wouldn't hurt their field. The Panthers agreed, but by this point, it was Thursday and the game was 72 hours and 1,000 miles away.

How could Peruna get transported? And where would it stay once it arrived in the Queen City? 

Enter Taylor and Hallie Martin. Taylor is Liz’s brother and a former Peruna handler who ran the Shetland Pony at SMU home games for all four years of his college life at SMU. Hallie, his wife, operates the largest equestrian boarding facility in the Metroplex. 

Taylor had secretly been planning for this exact situation. Taylor and Hallie took that advice and began calling folks who are known for transporting horses across the country. Not only did they need a driver, but they also needed a new trailer. That’s because Peruna’s old trailer, worth about $25,000 and decked out in SMU logos, was stolen. 

The Martins decided they’d pay someone with a trailer big enough to hold Peruna in Charlotte for the night. The trailer was big enough for a stall and for the driver to sleep in, an admittedly ridiculous size for a 150-pound pony that also included air conditioning – essentially an RV for horses. It costs $8,500 round trip all expenses paid, but it was priceless for Liz, Taylor, and the rest of the SMU family. 

“Could I have spent $8,500 on something else? Sure,” Taylor said. “But it was the ACC championship game. If we were going, Peruna was going.” 

Peruna set off on his 14-hour drive as Air Armstrong took off on its two-hour flight to Charlotte. The Hunts and Teppers had agreed that Peruna could be on the field, but the families were still haggling with the conference about his ability to run after touchdowns. On top of that, PETA had heard about Peruna’s travels and put out a call to action on social media. 

“We got a call at dinner on Friday night from SMU telling us, ‘If you see protestors at your hotel, just ignore them,’” Liz said with a laugh. “We never saw anybody. Just Peruna on Saturday night.” 

Early Saturday morning, Liz and Taylor received a text with a graphic detailing where Peruna could run. He was allowed to run, as long as he didn't approach the middle of the field. He was allowed to gallop between the SMU sideline and the yard markers a third of the way onto the playing surface. That’s exactly what it did after every touchdown. Adding to the excitement of pulling off the feat of getting Peruna to run on the field was that the Clemson fans in attendance booed every time he galloped after an SMU score. 

“That had to be the first-time people from South Carolina were on the same side as PETA,” Bill said after the game. “It was hilarious. We couldn’t have scripted it any better…well, except for that last field goal.” 

The trick won't be repeated for the first round playoff game at Penn State, as Peruna was denied field access by the Nittany Lions.