Duke's Movie Horses

[arthurarnell]

Hi Honeybee

I'd like to belatedly welcome you to the John Wayne message board, which we all think is the best of its kind, full of friendly people.

If you don't get a responce from your first post don't be diasheartened and don't worry about people not understanding how you put it. You find some wonderful information here.

So basically what I'm saying is welcome and keep posting.

Reards

Arthur

[itdo]

Hey Honeybee
sometimes one wants to give a question in a topic more thought - and in the end it drops down the list and might get forgotten (thanks, Arthur for popping it up).

So: good observation on the changing of horses in True Grit. I guess you're right since on most productions they would have a "stand-in" for the "hero-horse", the one that the star rides. Because you don't want to wear out your horse before the shot is lighted and ready, and because the 2nd unit team, shooting the long shots and stuff, needs an identical horse, you're observation must be right. For stunts they would usually spray a trained stunt horse in the color needed for the particular shot. So the Beau that falls down with Rooster (in this case doubled by Jim Burk) would probably not be the same Beau ridden by John Wayne all through the picture but a stunt horse.

Then they would have more than one horse because a single horse might not be able to do all the tricks all day long - one might be good for the charge, but one might be good for just standing still. Which is very important if you want to get a good close-up of the rider in the saddle, and you don't want to do it a thousand times because the horse tends to be nervous and can't stand still.

[WikiDon]

I wanted to share this article from Chicago Herald News about Dollor (before it went away).
************************************************** ***************
The Duke's horse keeps special bond

Published in the Herald News 03/13/05

(This column, by John Whiteside, originally appeared on Jan. 16, 1985.)

Dollor's ears twitch and then get alert when he hears that well-known voice. The horse looks around searching for the man behind that voice. He is looking for an old friend.

The 17-year-old chestnut gelding carried that man with that well-known voice on his back for many years. They were movie stars together.

Dollor, a long-legged quarter horse, made his movie debut in one of John Wayne's finest scenes in one of the Duke's best ever movies, "True Grit."

Most John Wayne fans remember that scene at the very end. Rooster Cogburn's other horse, Bo, had been killed when the old, fat, one-eyed marshal charged across the valley at four bad guys. Rooster got them, but they got Bo.

In the final scene, Rooster has found a new horse. Kim Darby's character comments about the new horse. The marshal says that new horse can jump a four-rail fence.

And then with a sweep of his hat, John Wayne jumps his horse across the fence and the film ends with the horse and rider still in the air.

That was Dollor carrying the Duke, said Debra Keffeler of Midlothian, Texas. She's now the proud owner of Dollor.

She said John Wayne first rode the horse in that move when Dollor was just a 2-year-old. The horse then was owned by a California movie production company that furnished horses for John Wayne movies.

"The Duke had an exclusive contract with them that no one could ride Dollor but him," she said. "I think he liked the horse because their temperaments were a lot alike."

"True Grit" was made in 1969. John Wayne made nine more Western movies after that, including "Chisum," "Big Jake," "The Cowboys," "The Train Robbers" and "Rooster Cogburn."

Dollor was in most of those films. He was mentioned specifically by name several times in the Duke's last movie, "The Shootist."

Debra said the Duke had "The Shootist" script rewritten so he could use Dollor's name. That's how much he thought of the horse.

She bought Dollor — "for a whole bunch of money" — about a year ago from an Iowa man. Dollor lives in a $65,000 barn with her nine other horses.

He's in semi-retirement, content to munch on alfalfa hay and oats. But he still likes to go, she said. Dollor was used to traveling to all the Duke's movie locations, she said.

But what he likes best of all is listening to the sounds in one of his old movies. Debra plays the old movies for him.

"He gets all excited when he hears the shooting and that voice," she said. "Then the ears get alert, and he's looking for John Wayne."

Debra manages a Western clothing store in Ducanville, not far from Dallas. Dollor often makes personal appearances at the store. He also appears at banquets and openings of other stores.

"People cry when they see Dollor," she said. "They just want to touch him. It makes them feel good to see John Wayne's horse. John Wayne was an idol to lots of us as well as a legend.

"He was a good man. People want to keep his memory alive. That's why they let out their feelings when they see Dollor."

Debra said only two other stars have ridden Dollor since the Duke's death. Robert Wagner rode the horse in a segment of the "Hart to Hart" television show, and John Forsythe rode him in "Dynasty."

She doesn't ride Dollor. Nor does she allow others to ride him.

Several times requests have been made to allow someone to ride Dollor in a parade.

"I'm not going to allow some flashy blonde to ride John Wayne's horse in a parade," she said. "That just wouldn't be right."

Ol' Dollor is going to live out his days at her place eating good hay and oats, occasionally appearing before the Duke's fans.

And for a treat, he'll get to see a John Wayne movie just as often as possible, she said.


03/13/05

[SXViper]

This column, by John Whiteside, originally appeared on Jan. 16, 1985.

Whoa, thank god I read the whole thing. Because I thought, damn that is one old horse!!! Plus I was already out the door heading to Iowa to see the horse!!! : :

Thanks for the write up. Nice to see things like that.

[ethanedwards]

Hi,
I too had to read it all the way through,
for some reason, the more I read the post,
the more I was convinced Dollar was still alive!!
However, as I read the date of the article,
my dream was quickly shattered.
How about Dukes, pre-Dollar horse,
Banner, he used this horse,in his westerns between
1940-1954.
Does anyone have any information about
this, another of Dukes favourite horses?

[kilo 6]

Hello All
I would appreciate some elaboration on the statement Quirt makes about JW not loving horses. Can anyone can point me at a reference to JW and his feeling about horses.

[Colorado Bob]

Originally posted by kilo 6@Sep 7 2005, 10:12 PM
Hello All
* * * * * I would appreciate some elaboration on the statement Quirt makes about JW not loving horses. Can anyone can point me at a reference to JW and his feeling about horses.

[snapback]21282[/snapback]

Howdy Kilo,
There have been several books out about John Wayne that make some sort of mention that he either disliked or hated horses, or at least riding them. I think the most blatant mention is in Garry Wills book John Wayne: The Politics of America. In it he flat out states that Duke hated horses. Personally I hated this book and felt that Wills disliked Wayne and took every opportunity to belittle or discount him in his book. However, you have to remember that Duke grew up riding a horse to school every day when he first moved to California, and he rode well. There are several other times that he mentioned riding a horse, such as when he told about herding cattle on horseback to bring the cattle into Monument Valley in 1930 for the film Lone Star Ranger. He also rode horses with Ward Bond when they went hunting.

I don't think he hated horses per se, but I don't think they were his favorite form of transportation. He raised horses on one of his ranches, he was a good horseman and he sat a horse well, but as Duke himself once said, "When I get on a horse, I get paid a lot of money."
Colorado Bob

[Senta]

Hi all,
Thank you very much to bring that topic again, I didn't find it during my search in old topics, and I' m very interested in the questions connected with Dukes horses. And I find answerers for the most of them in the posts. Only that first question about Dukes horse in The Searchers and Horse soldgies wasn't answered (I myself quess that it was the same horse) and I can't agree that it is the tall horse, I think it is less than 160 sm.
Regards,
Vera

[William T Brooks]

Vera;

Duke was not what we call a Horse Lover, but thought of them as a Tool to be used in His Films. But He did have His Favorite Horses like Old Dollar and Bo. :)

In the Southwest in the 1800s and then on up into the 1980s when I was raising Horses on my ranch, we would say that a Horse was so many "Hands High!" One hand was about 4 inches or about 10 sm. And that would be to the Whithers or Shoulders of the Horse.

If you would say that the Horse was 14 Hands or smaller that would be a Small Horse, <_< and if you would say the Horse was 16 Hands or more, that was a Tall Horse, and because Duke was a Very Big Man He liked a Tall Horse!!! :D

Chilibill

[Senta]

Originally posted by William T Brooks@Sep 8 2005, 04:00 PM
Vera;

Duke was not what we call a Horse Lover, but thought of them as a Tool to be used in His Films. But He did have His Favorite Horses like Old Dollar and Bo. :)

In the Southwest in the 1800s and then* on up into the 1980s when I was raising Horses on my ranch, we would say that a Horse was so many "Hands High!" One hand was about 4 inches or about 10 sm. And that would be to the Whithers or Shoulders of the Horse.

If you would say that the Horse was 14 Hands or smaller that would be a Small Horse, <_<* and if you would say the Horse was 16 Hands or more, that was a Tall Horse, and because Duke was a Very Big Man He liked a Tall Horse!!! :D

Chilibill

[snapback]21292[/snapback]

Hi Bill,
You always bring some important and interesting information not only about Duke but about the horses size as well. I was always thinking about the meanings of that Hands and inches.
Here were the most horses are bred for sport 16 Hands don't seems too much. It is the middle sized horse, tall is about 17. Even trotters nobody would like to bay less than 16 hands high (I like that way to say about horse size in hands).
What horses have you bred on your ranch? I myself thinking about breeding trotters, but haven't started yet. If I start it will be only one breeding mare.
Regards,
Vera

[William T Brooks]

Vera;

Thirty years ago on my ranch in California, I was raising Hereford Cattle and Arab Horses. After a few years it was very clear that it was a very Expensive thing to be in Raising Arab Horses. We had 27 Horses, Mostly Mares and One Arab Stud to service the Mares. :) Lightning Hit the Stud Horse and Killed him, and that is when I sold all but one of the Mares for my Wife Martha and One Gilding for me to use on the Ranch. :( If you want to read a little more on the Ranch you can go to Horse Ranch

I will talk to you next week, I am leaving for a few more days at Duke's 26 Bar Ranch with my Son. :) This time we are going to Ride up to the Line Shack up in the High Country to get some more Video for the Promo that we are doing for the Ranch. :)

Chilibill

[kilo 6]

Hello All
Hi Chilibill - nice storey about the ranch. Speaking of horses JW rented 1600 for the filming of the Alamo. ( according to Roberts and Olson book JW American ) Hi Colorado thanks for the reference I have to agree with you that Gary Wils seems to have a lot of negative things to say about JW Kilo

[WikiDon]

The horse's name is DOLLOR...!!!!</span>

M & A
Can we merge the two horse topics? One "Duke's horses" in "General Discussions" and one in "Off Topic Discussions" called "Dukes Rides { Horses }"

Horse Timeline
Can we start a timeline for the horses? Something like this.

1930-1941: Duke
1942-1952: Banner
1953-1968: Beau
1968-1978: Dollor

Put in the main horses and any other subs, like the ones Hawks insisted on.

The Quiet Man
Did anyone find out about the horse in "The Quiet Man"? They didn't ship a horse all the way to Ireland for basiclly one scene did they?

Don

[Senta]

Originally posted by William T Brooks@Sep 9 2005, 12:43 AM
Vera;

Thirty years ago on my ranch in California, I was raising Hereford Cattle and Arab Horses. After a few years it was very clear that it was a very Expensive thing to be in Raising Arab Horses. * We had 27 Horses, Mostly Mares and One Arab Stud to service the Mares. :)* Lightning Hit the Stud Horse and Killed him, and that is when I sold all but one of the Mares* for my Wife Martha and One Gilding for me to use on the Ranch. :(* If you want to read a little more on the Ranch you can go to Horse Ranch

I will talk to you next week, I am leaving for a few more days at Duke's 26 Bar Ranch with my Son. :)* This time we are going to Ride up to the Line Shack up in the High Country to get some more Video for the Promo that we are doing for the Ranch. :)

Chilibill

[snapback]21299[/snapback]

Hi Chilibill,
I have read about your ranch with great interest. You are right that it is difficult to make money on Arabian horses. Good friends of mine started a farm near St.Petersburg more than 10 years ago. I must add that horse breeding became possible for private persons in Russia only in 90-es. Now they have a big number of horses, about 1/3 of them _Arabian, others raised for the sport. Their arabian horses participate in races and also in the Show for Arabian horses, which became quite popular in the last years. They didn't make much money but somehow they keep the farm. But all hey is their own.
I hope your visit to the Dukes ranch will be successful. Hope to hear from you again,
Regards,
Vera :)

[REASR]

WikiDon
You left out Steel and Alamo


Rick