Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Horses in the old westerns.

Oh I believe you I know people that say the same thing. I'm just saying I don't believe in it. Sure would be a shame for a man to walk past a good horse because of feet color.

Appaloosas have striped hooves. All the stripes are known for being tough.

The problem is them feets is attached to Appaloosas!

Myth: White hooves are softer and have more problems than black feet.
The color of the hoof is influenced by the color of the skin above it, so if a horse has white markings directly above the hoof, the hoof itself may carry the same pigmentation. Many people believe that hooves with black walls are stronger than hooves with white walls.

Master Farrier John Burt owns and operates the JDC School of Basic Farrier Science near Texarkana, Ark. He is a member of and tester for the Brotherhood of Working Farriers Association (BWFA) and a 2001 inductee to the BWFA Hall of Fame.
John says, "There is no quality difference on the same horse, no scientific data to sustain any difference. The white and the black hoof are both designed the same structurally; the texture and quality of the hoof is the same."

One of the foremost experts in his field, Doug Butler, Ph.D., of LaPorte, Colo., is the author of The Principles of Horseshoeing, one of the most widely used texts on horseshoeing in the world. He also has 30 years of teaching experience and acts as a consultant and lecturer on horseshoeing. In 1976 while doing research at Cornell University, he conducted a study on white versus black hooves by taking squares of hoof material and crushing them in a compressor.

"There was no difference between black and white," he agrees. "The main difference was in moisture content: The softer hooves fell apart easier." He notes that genetics also play a role in hoof strength. "Some Paint Horses have extremely brittle white hooves and others don’t. Appaloosas seem to have extremely strong feet, no matter what color; genetic propensity seems to be more important than the color of the hoof."

I bet that's what I'm thinking of Miles, 'cause I remember Ruth now!

Thanks.

Sara was played by Shirley McLain so they had 2 mules and 1 jackass.

I don't dispute the findings of the experts at all.However, my wife had an old rodeo horse that had one white foot. I have done all my own shoeing for about 50 years,and that one foot was the hardest to keep a shoe on and was always cracking.If I left her barefoot,she would break out that one hoof so much that she was unuseable. The other three had no problems. This is only an example of one, so it doesn't mean much, but I wanted to pass on my experience

Ruth was a boy horse too. miles

The word was, in the old Lassie movies, Roy Weatherwax used eight dogs to play Lassie, all males.

Easy answer for an old western watcher. Randolph Scott's horse called Stardust.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuwNBDnKEoM

Kaywoodie, actually you are right when you said you remember someone riding Sarah. In the movie Two Mules for Sister Sarah, she was dressed like a nun and led everyone to believe she was one. In the end you find out she is actually a prostitute.
Just saying!

So that Jenny didn't buck for free.

Still on old westerns, but, when they light the wick on the oil lamp, light quickly comes from all sides, and brightly.

Gene Autry's Horse was Champ. Tonto's was Scout,but what was Red Ryder's horse's name?

Wikipedia says, Thunder, but you could have looked that up.

I can't remember the name of Matt Dillon's nag but several of us Gunsmoke writers used to jokingly refer to his horse as "Dr. Ross," and would use the name in a script. I.e., "Matt runs out from the Marshal's Office, jumps on Dr. Ross and rides away."

(For those who don't know, "Dr. Ross" was a canned dog food.)

As for "eight Lassies," that is true. Each Lassie knew several "tricks" so whatever "chore" Lassie was supposed to do on camera per the script, there was always one of the Lassies that could perform it.

Same with a popular Canadian dog show called The Littlest Hobo. "Hobo" was a German Shepard pooch who ran around in Canada, hooking up with people who needed some kind of help and Hobo would help them out. The trainer had six identical male German Shepards, all of whom he'd taught a bunch of tricks. I wrote for that show when I was sent to Toronto by Columbia Pictures.

It was interesting to be on the set and watch the trainer handle the dogs for the camera work. Lots of hand signals and sometimes screaming by the trainer.

One thing about writing for a "dog show." The dialog for the "star" was easy.

L.W.

The chestnut that Mcqeen rode in Tom Horn in a bosal and Hackmans bucksin, Ben Johnsons grey and the brown horse in Bite the bullet are some of my favorites.

When they filmed 'Babe' about the sheep herding pig, they went through 48 pigs. Pigs grow so fast that they kept outgrowing the part. Good thing that pigs are exceptionally easy to train.
I guess they kept the crew supplied with bacon, anyway.

Wow! From horses to pigs in less than 2 pages.

True, at least we are not at each other's throats like "up" at the freak show!