I recently watched the movie Secretariat with my eight year old niece. I hadn’t watched the movie for quite a long time, and as I did, I noticed a few things that are common in horse movies. Now, a while back, I wrote an article about things horses do in movies that they don’t do in real life. But, as I watched Secretariat, I noticed a few things that most people, who know little about horses, might not.
In Secretariat, as in many horse movies, more than one horse plays the lead role. Often, horse cosmetics are used to disguise this, or a horse with similar markings are used. It’s not unusual to see a horse with four white stockings and a blaze be replaced by a horse with three white stockings, a sock and a stripe in another scene. According to IMDB, five horses were used to play Secretariat, one of them an American Quarter Horse. Cosmetics were used to recreate stockings and facial markings, but if you watch, you’ll be able to identify the various horses. In some movies picking out the different horses is ridiculously easy.
During many movie race scenes it’s not unusual to see jockeys holding their horses back so the main character appears to win. Watch movies with horse races and you’ll see riders with death grips, and their horses pulling, straining to go faster. The star has to win however, and even if the extras can run faster in real life, it just doesn’t fit into the script if another horse outshines the star.
And when the human movie actors can’t ride, or it’s too difficult to get close-ups while they are actually on horseback? Since the early 1980s, a mechanical horse called the Equicizer and similar machines have been used. It was used in the movie Seabiscuit for the closeups of Toby Mcguire playing jockey Red Pollard as he raced. If you want to see how they did it prior to then, here’s a clip of a Boris Karloff movie as he rides through the trees laughing manically.
I hate seeing horses fall, and thank goodness they don’t fall as often in real life as they do in the movies. There are standards for horse care in movies that help prevent real injuries to the animals that are used. There was a time when there wasn’t. It was common practice for horses to be tripped and thrown when a fall was needed in the scene. this was done with a trip wire, or with a device that the rider used. Now, horses are trained to fall. If you see a horse fall with its head thrown up, it is falling on a cue from its rider. If you see a horse that is falling with its head down, it has likely been tripped.
Movies like The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) and Jesse James (1939) are infamous for the horses that were injured and killed and after they were made, the American Humane Society started taking notice of cruelties used to mimic falls and jumps on set. It wasn’t until after the 1979 movie Heaven’s Gate was filmed, and a horse had to be euthanized because explosives were placed beneath its saddle, that AHA was granted authority to protect animals used in movies. The contract with the Screen Actors Guild protects all animals used on film sets.
What do you notice about the horses in horse movies?
When the weather is miserable, and you can’t get out to ride, the next best thing might be snuggling under a warm blanket and watching a horse movie. While you have to pay for most movies online, there are still quite a few that y ...
There aren’t any good horse series on TV, are there? This wasn’t always the case. Over the years there have been many. Some included fictional horses like Black Beauty, Flicka and famous race horses. Others featured horses as fait ...
In Secretariat, as in many horse movies, more than one horse plays the lead role. Often, horse cosmetics are used to disguise this, or a horse with similar markings are used. It’s not unusual to see a horse with four white stockin ...
Movie awards season has come to an end with the granddaddy of all awards ceremonies, The Oscars. By now, the fuss about the big flub has passed and the casts of Moonlight and La-La Land has finished patting each other on the back. ...
There’s still a bit of winter left, which means it’s too dark to ride after supper when the footing isn’t good. So you might want to curl up in front of the TV. And you might be able to soothe your need for a horse fix. Here’s wha ...
There was a time when CGI and other complicated special effects weren’t available to movie makers. Back in the ‘good old days’ both rides and horses did all the wild stunts. There is no doubt that the riskiest stunts were performe ...
We’ve looked at how horses are often portrayed in the movies before, and know that some of what the public sees on screen is pure fabrication. Horse expert Scott Tarter looks at some of the most popular movies like Hidalgo, Secret ...
Two sisters have completed a ride across Canada. The journey began in 2017 in Mahone Bay on the east coast of the province of Nova Scotia, and two years later, ended in Crescent Beach in Surrey, British Columbia. They took 250 day ...
As you explore Ponybox, you might notice that on many members’ walls there are lists of goals. Why bother setting goals? Because it doesn’t matter if you're involved with sports, volunteering, or a student or professional, goals m ...
Frightening moments occurred on a highway near Dallas, Texas when about a dozen horses escaped from a trailer. The horses and ponies were loose for almost an hour before emergency crews could round them all up. Two of the ponies w ...
Sadly, some of the wild horses along the Outer Banks did not survive the storm as well as others. In what is being called a ‘mini-tsunami’ its believed 28 wild horses were swept into the ocean during Hurricane Dorian’s storm surge ...
While many people were concerned for the safety of the wild horses on the Outer Banks during Hurricane Dorian, the herd near the Shackleford Banks experienced an increase, rather than a decrease of members. Evacuation order for hu ...
The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, has been provided with video of dying, emaciated and dead horses in a pasture near Buenos Aires by their partners Tierschutzbund and The Animal Welfare Foundation. The 400+ horses, destined fo ...
We’ve looked at how horses are often portrayed in the movies before, and know that some of what the public sees on screen is pure fabrication. Horse expert Scott Tarter looks at some of the most popular movies like Hidalgo, Secret ...
Flirty, a Miniature Horse and service animal was possibly the first horse to fly inside the passenger compartment of a plane. Her handler, who is allergic to dogs, took Flirty on a short flight, and this short video documents the ...
By 
![How Horses are Used in Movies [Video]](upload/news/3006_featured_thumb.jpg "How Horses are Used in Movies [Video]")
