animals in movies: what about horses getting "shot"?

[drhess]

In his SD classic column, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_370b.html , Cecil discusses how film directors can create the illusion of animals fighting each other.

I’m wondering about getting horses to fall down in violent fashion. I can see a horse being trained to just roll over and act dead, but in many movies it seems horses are falling forward while running forward or in some other fashion that doesn’t seem comfortable or trainable (since animal instinct to avoiding harm is probably greater than the desire to get a sugar cube reward or whatever).

Ideas?

[yabob]

Decades ago, they used to tripwire horses for movies. A particularly infamous technique was called the “running w”. These days, yes, they might use specially trained horses. Apparently you CAN train a horse to fall over on command:

http://www.angelfire.com/film/horsefame/stunts.html

See comments concerning a horse named “Jerry Brown”, who was used for falling scenes.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/stunt.htm

Running W: wire and cuffs were attached to horse’s forelegs and run through slip rings on the saddle cinch underneath the animal. The wire was anchored to the ground, and when the wire went taut as the horse galloped along, the legs would be pulled up toward his belly, causing a tumble.

These are now illegal.

You can teach a horse to fall down on cue. How-to, complete with photos.

http://www.horsegazette.com/Monthly_Features/Sept-2002/bode-index.htm

The saddle fall is relatively easy to train the horse to perform; you start with a pretty solid horse that doesn’t spook at much. In a round pen with the horse moving at a walk the trainer simply slides out of the saddle into the soft sand footing. When the horse consistently demonstrates that it doesn’t bother him, the trainer will speed up to a trot – making sure to continue in the same direction as in the walk. Repeat the slide off at the trot until the horse has demonstrated that he’s not bothered. The next step is the lope, the trainer just adds a little tuck and roll (away from the horse’s feet for obvious reasons) after he slides out of the saddle.

Looks like you also pull his head around, away from the direction you want him to fall, so he’s off-balance. Then you sort of pull him over while simultaneously adroitly slipping out of the saddle yourself and rolling away from him.