This statue was given to Solihull by Captain Oliver Bird, M.C., J.P., High Sheriff of Warwickshire, 1943-44. In memory of his father, Sir Alfred F. Bird, Baronet, D.L. of Tudor Grange, Solihull. From which place it was removed in 1953.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/4318521421Captain Oliver Bird bought the sculpture at auction and donated it to the Borough of Solihull in 1944 after his mother's death. In the sale catalogue the statue was described as 'Exceedingly Fine Life Size Statue of a Prancing horse with a man by J. E. Boehm, 1874, on stone pedestal, having Tudor Rose and Shield Ornaments'. Captain Bird met with the council at Malvern Park to help choose the site for the statue and donated £500 for its removal to the site. The statue was formally presented to the council in a short ceremony on 15th December 1953.