# Horses in old west **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2022, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433 "2022-08-10T13:01:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/21 "2022-08-10T20:27:59Z")
LOL! 😆 What confuses and annoys me is seeing some robber or hero ride his horse up to a train, and jump off the horse onto the train- leaving the horse out in the middle of no-where, with saddle and bridle?? Would that not spell doom for the horse? Not to mention a saddle was pretty dam expensive… and so was a good horse. > [@snowthx](#): > > Huh. I always assumed it was a rental if you’d been thru the desert on a horse with no name. 😆 But the horses name was “Dan” of course. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/22 "2022-08-10T20:40:05Z")
> _[Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068435/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)_ > > **Ben Mockridge:** > Sure is a nice horse. What’s his name? > > **Luke, Drover:** > You don’t have to put a name on something you might have to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/23 "2022-08-10T21:40:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > Huh. I always assumed it was a rental if you’d been thru the desert on a horse with no name. > > 😆 But the horses name was “Dan” of course. 😛 The pony, she named Wildfire. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/24 "2022-08-10T23:54:27Z")
Nice one. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/25 "2022-08-11T00:41:18Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What confuses and annoys me is seeing some robber or hero ride his horse up to a train, and jump off the horse onto the train- leaving the horse out in the middle of no-where, with saddle and bridle?? Don’t be silly. The assistant director will catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/26 "2022-08-11T00:41:30Z")
While being chased Butch Cassidy and Sundance dumped their 2 horses in the movie and walked to Etta’s house … Which is funny because Butch said he didn’t even know where they were except it was not OK. There are rumors they did not die in S. America and made it back to the US but those are not credible. Etta did make it back but it’s unclear where she went or when she died. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/27 "2022-08-11T02:43:38Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > You aren’t going to be pulling into a new town and trading your Ferrari for some Pinto. A Mustang for a Pinto would have been a more fitting analogy ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/28 "2022-08-11T05:10:12Z")
Really? [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/V3LKgmb.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/NHUrj2D) ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/29 "2022-08-11T16:27:44Z")
I think they just meant in the sense that a Ferrari is more like a million dollar race horse, and a mustang and a pinto are stock off the range. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/30 "2022-08-11T16:49:23Z")
Mustang and Pinto are both terms for horses. Ferrari uses a horse logo for the company, but the family name means Blacksmith, like Farrier in English, people who shoe horses. So a Ferrari and Michelin analogy might make sense in reference to some other topic but it doesn’t fit when discussing Horses in old West. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/31 "2022-08-11T16:50:05Z")
I’d say more that Mustang and Pinto are breeds of horses, and Ferrari is not. Having an icon based on a horse is not the same as actually being named after one. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/32 "2022-08-11T18:55:35Z")
Yeah I meant that tongue in cheek. I should have included a smiley of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/33 "2022-08-12T02:45:22Z")
The Pinto catches fire when it is hit from behind. The Ferrari just catches fire. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/34 "2022-08-12T17:32:06Z")
Welcome to the Dope, where we can debate anything. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/35 "2022-08-12T19:14:12Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > [Endurance Hunting](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o) shows otherwise. And you can assume it’s how humans domesticated horses. More recently, Robert Falcon Scott had to shoot all his ponies long before he and the rest of his team kept on walking to the South Pole. > > We can’t run as fast as horses, but we can (convince ourselves) to keep going. We can’t carry as much, but we can carry more relative to our body weight It’s one of the reasons dogs pair so well with humans - we’re both capable of walking and running long distances with little rest. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/36 "2022-08-13T13:11:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What confuses and annoys me is seeing some robber or hero ride his horse up to a train, and jump off the horse onto the train- leaving the horse out in the middle of no-where, with saddle and bridle?? Would that not spell doom for the horse? Not to mention a saddle was pretty dam expensive… and so was a good horse. Presumably whatever’s in the train is worth a lot more to the rider than his horse and saddle (for robbers, the loot, and for the hero, whatever human life or noble deed is being secured). ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/37 "2022-08-13T16:25:38Z")
The robbers don’t stay on the train. Presumably, they get off the train and their compatriots bring them their horse(s) and they ride off. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/38 "2022-08-13T16:36:55Z")
Or they force the engineer to stop the train and the horse quickly catches up. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/39 "2022-08-13T16:38:10Z")
I can’t remember a single Western where it wasn’t pretty clear the plan was to board the train so it could be stopped. The robbery occurs after that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433/40 "2022-08-13T16:47:09Z")
They stopped the train in _The Harder They Fall_ (that was not a robbery, though!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horses-in-old-west/969433.md?page=3)