Downlands Cancara was selected to become the horse used in the bank's TV adverts in 1988 and filming for the first took place in 1989. It was shot on the sands of Pentewan Bay in Cornwall and showed a black horse galloping through the surf along the wide deserted beach. The adverts featured Nigel Havers and Jan Francis. Cancara then went on to star in the Bank's "Legendary Service" campaign where he was seen rearing on top of a waterfall in a fantasy land of princesses, giants and goblins. In fact he was filmed, rearing, at his home near Petersfield, Hampshire, then superimposed onto a model of a sugar waterfall created and shot at Pinewood Studios, just for the commercials.
Personal appearances
Cancara also represented Lloyds Bank, and subsequently Lloyds TSB, with numerous personal appearances. These included opening the Great Yorkshire Show[3] and at the Royal Welsh Show and the New Forest Show. Some of the other highlights of Cancara's career included press calls for the Annual Fashion Awards where he was regularly surrounded by supermodels, launching Lloyds Bank's sponsorship of the BAFTA Awards with Richard Attenborough and David Puttnam, becoming Royal Doulton’s centenary limited issue figurine and thereafter having one presented to Steven Spielberg, Mel Gibson and "Mulder and Scully" at the BAFTA Awards as well as being present at the announcement concerning the merger of Lloyds and TSB Banks. He also had an official fan club in Horse and Pony Magazine.
