The life of a movie horse17:30 Mar 12 2012
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What makes a horse a good actor?
First and foremost,intelligence.
When looking for good racing prospects,one looks for the fastest horses.Horses with certain conformation that will lend to speed with little breakdown.However, movie trainers look for the smartest horses and sometimes horses who are coloured differently than most. As a movie horse..or liberty horse trainer,I gauge intelligence by how attentive a horse is, and how quickly it learns commands. Movie horses also need to be very calm around humans and especially,machinery. As far as physical qualities, we tend to prefer well-proportioned horses with shiny coats, straight legs and a short back so they can rear easily. Youth is always plus since young horses are well suited for the rigors of moviemaking, but a good horse can work in Hollywood its entire life. Movie trainers very rarely use mares because they come into heat for a week every month during mating season, and it can disrupt shooting schedules. But when a mare is used,she is sometimes put on Regimate,which stops the mare from horsing" or flirting with other horses who might be on a set.
During a shoot, the trainer is like the horse's personal acting coach, standing just off-screen and cues each movement in the scene.
A good trick horse knows at least 20 or 30 basic behaviours, such as bucking ,rearing, standing on, or galloping to a mark. But we can also teach them additional behaviours based on a director's needs. A well trained or seasoned horse can follow a cue without turning its head toward the trainer and follows the trainer with its eyes instead. We have several different ways of signaling to the horse..some use a whip ,some use their hands, and many use verbal commands.
Studios always hire more horses than appear on-screen in case on gets tired or has worked its legal limit for the day. The director might also use different horses for different shots. A faster horse might appear in a racing scene, while a bigger horse might appear in a close-up shot. If any of the horses are the wrong color pattern, wranglers or handlers often paint them to look the same using water washable dyes as in the case of Casole of the Black Stallion.
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