• Do horses stand still when entangled with barb wire?
• Do they really nuzzle people?
• How hard is chariot racing?
• Horse breaking and how far we’ve come
• Lots more!

Summary:
Summary by AI:

Renee, a horse veterinarian with 30 years of experience, analyzes famous horse scenes from Hollywood movies like Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Ben-Hur, Spirit, War Horse, and Seabiscuit to separate movie magic from horse reality. She explains what horses can realistically do—like show empathy, gallop flat out, or even stand still while injured—and what’s exaggerated for dramatic effect, such as horses kicking down doors or running 450 miles in a day. Renee also highlights how older films often endangered horses, while modern productions use trained stunt horses, CGI, and better safety standards. She discusses horse behavior, biomechanics, and ethical training, advocating for humane, trust-based methods over cruel “breaking.” Finally, she introduces her Tucker Biokinetic Technique (TBT), developed to treat the root causes of horse health issues.

Transcription:

Renee (00:00:00.00)
Are Hollywood movie scenes with horses like Lord of the Rings and Gladiator realistic, or is it just movie magic? I’ve been a horse vet for 30 years and have worked with thousands of horses. Today, I’m breaking down the most famous scenes to see if horses can really charge down a mountain, fall on cube, and show emotions. Let’s start with scenes from one of my favorite movies, Lord of the Rings. In this scene, the horse, Brego, nuzzles a fallen Aragorn back to consciousness. This shows the incredible bond of communication between a horse and a human. This is a perfect example of a horse’s empathy and loyalty. This nuzzling that Brego does is very similar to what a mare or a mother horse would do to a foal. It would be like she was saying, It’s okay now, you can get up. Some people think that training cues were used for this scene, but actually, this scene was famously an adlib by actor Vigo Mortensen, who had formed a strong bond with the horse. Vigo actually bought the horse after filming Wrapped, which shows the strong connection they had formed. I made a lot of friends in New Zealand, but I would say he’s, without question, my best friend in New Zealand, is this guy.

Renee (00:01:26.12)
In this scene, the Ring faiths or Nazgol on their black horses kick down a city gate. So here’s the thing. A horse’s kick can generate over 2,000 pounds per square inch, which is more than enough to dent metal, break a leg, or kick down a wooden gate. So from a sheer physics standpoint, yes, a horse could kick down a wooden door. But normally, a horse would not run straight through a door to knock it down. This would not make sense as running straight through, the horse would hit the door headfirst, potentially knocking the horse out or even killing it. So is this fiction? For a normal horse? Yes. But for these Nazgul horses, they have bonded with their malevolent Nazgul masters for so long that it’s overrided their self-preservation. So for this movie, yes, this would be true. In this scene, Arwen races a desperate their life or death ride on her horse, Asfiloth, with Frodo to escape the pursuing Nazgul. Here’s what I want to share about the horses. When you’re running for your life, you go full speed. When a horse runs at a full speed gallop, they stretch flat out. It’s called a flat out gallop.

Renee (00:02:48.06)
At this speed, its entire body stretches out flat. This forward extension of the neck is a natural part of their biomechanics, helping with balance and stride length. In the scene, both Arwen’s horse and the Nazgul horses are shown with their heads held relatively high. This shows a controlled canter or a hand gallop, not a full speed gallop. What’s happening is the Nazgul horses ride in formation. To achieve this formation, their riders have to rein the horses in a bit, slowing them down. To keep the chase scene exciting, the artistic choice by the filmmakers is to slow Arwen’s horse down as well. Understanding a horse’s true biomechanics is crucial to their health and performance. Tbt, the Tucker Biokinetic Technique, helps ensure the horse’s body is in correct alignment to move naturally and powerfully. You can learn more about TBT in this video. In this scene, Gandalf and Pippin ride 450 miles to Minas Tirith. In the movie, it looks like Gandalf and Pippin rode Shadowbags 450 miles in one day. In the book, it took four days. In reality, a healthy horse can ride 50 to 100 miles in one day. In fact, the top record for an endurance horse is 100 miles in just under 6 hours.

Renee (00:04:14.02)
To be fair, it is hard to show travel time in a movie unless you put up a sign that says four days later. Multiple horses were used for the part of Shadow Facts. Our next scene from Gladiator. The dramatic opening battle in Germania featuring Roman Calvary charging into a forest, and later, gladiatorial scenes in the arena featuring chariots and mounted combat. Real Calvary horses are typically much shorter and stockier than what we see in today’s movie horses. And why is that? Because while movie horses that are tall look better in a movie, they are harder to get on from the ground. Even if you’re a tall person, it doesn’t matter. If you’re carrying armor and a sword and you’re in a hurry, you want it to be as easy as possible. Calvary Horse’s real training include the ability to tolerate the sounds and the smells of battle. Also, to hold a line during all that chaos and to charge directly into enemies. Calvary horses are amazing. For this movie, for the dramatic falls and crashes, no real horses were put at risk. The stunt horses were highly trained to perform these controlled falls. The action was meticulously choreographed.

Renee (00:05:30.00)
Raft. Cgi was used to create the illusion of chaos without harming the animals. In some gladiatorial games, horses were indeed part of the spectacle. They were either used for pulling the chariots or they were mounted for the combatants. In the main Calvary Charge scene, the horses were specifically trained to run through the forest. This is important to practice because a horse running at full speed through a forest can hit a tree. If they do, they can break their neck and die. I personally know two horses that have hit a tree, broken their neck, and died. You may think, that seems silly, the tree’s right in front of them, but the horses cannot see directly in front of their face. They can see a whole lot. When it gets close up, they can’t see because their eyes are on the side of their head. So this does need practice. This is the high stakes Violent Cherrier Race, where Ben, her, and Messela battle it out. In older films, the safety of animals was ignored. In the silent film version of Ben Hur from 1925, reports state that dozens and even over 100 horses were killed. This led to public outcry in the eventual establishment of the American Humane Association’s guidelines.

Renee (00:06:50.22)
The dramatic crashes in the 1959 version were meticulously choreographed. They used wires and ramps and trained stunt horses. This ensured the animal’s safety, which was a major improvement from earlier films. The infamous Running W stunt, where they actually tripped horses in many older Western films, is now banned and considered animal cruelty. What I think is fascinating about this chariot race is that very few horses are trained to pull like this anymore. If you tried to make this movie today, you’d actually be hard-pressed to find horses that could do it. I know it looks simple. It’s just four horses going straight, but it’s actually quite complicated. Just one example. When they go around the curve, the inside horse has to slow down and the outside horse has to go faster. If they don’t do the curve speed correctly, the car tips right over, telling you this was really hard to do and these horses were incredibly trained. In this scene, the untamable Mustang spirit fights against being broken by the US Calvary. First of all, horses are social animals. In the wild, they live together in herds, and their number one defense is to run away.

Renee (00:08:10.01)
To be confined, unable to run away without any horses next to them for support is mental torture. The method of breaking the horse’s spirit, as shown in the scene, is unfortunately accurate. This scene is exactly what some horse trainers still do and worse. This type of breaking exhausts the horse physically and mentally until they give up. It literally breaks their spirit. This is not training. This is cruelty. It only teaches the horse fear and helplessness. Thank God today, there are more and more gentle approaches. Natural horsemanship, gentle training techniques, including positive reinforcement. These types of things are more and more popular. I cannot wait until the cruelty training completely fades away. Positive reinforcement training creates a bond of kindness and trust between horse and human. Horses will do anything for their human if they trust them. For this movie, the animator studied real horses. The horses in the film don’t have human dialog, but communicate through realistic horse sounds and body language, which is a great nod to the film’s creators. In this scene, Frank Hopkins lets his horse, Hedago, go free in the wild with his horses shoes still on. The fact is, the horse would have a tough time surviving with the horse shoes still on.

Renee (00:09:38.06)
Horses hoof walls grow continuously, just like our fingernails. Horses’ hooves have to be trimmed about every six weeks, whether or not they have shoes on. A domesticated horse released into the wild would have terribly overgrown hoofs, and eventually the shoes would be ripped off. This could be extremely painful. This might result in lameness or a cracked hoof, making the whole leg susceptible to injury. Horses’ hooves need to be horseshoe free to live in the wild. If you’re interested in learning more about how horses shoes hurt all horses, I suggest you watch this video next. This movie is based on a true story. Let me give you some background because it’s super cool. There was this famous rivalry between Seabiscuit and Waradmiral. Waradmiral, the son of the famous Manor War, was a dominant champion who won the American Triple Crown in 1937. He was named Horse of the Year. Sea Biscuit, smaller, undersized horse, was a fan favorite. During the Great Depression, he was the leading money winner of 1937. The rivalry culminated in the match of the century on November first, 1938 at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore. The race drew an estimated 40,000 spectators and a record radio audience of 40 million listeners.

Renee (00:10:59.08)
40 million. Waradmiral was the heavy favorite, with odds as short as one to four, was widely considered the superior horse. However, Seabiscuit, ridden by jockey George Wolf, executed a strategic plan to gain an early lead by bolting at the sound of the starting bell. This tactic was secretly prepared by his trainer, Tom Smith. Despite Waradmiral closing the gap and running his fastest time ever, Seabiscuit pulled away in the stretch to win by four lengths is, breaking the track record. The racehorses shown are thoroughbreds. Thoroughbred is the name of a horse breed. Some people think the racehorse industry is terrible, but let me tell you something. Some horses love to race. They love to run, and they insist on being first. In the racing industry, this is called having the heart to race. If a racehorse doesn’t have the heart to race, they don’t care who’s in front, and they let everybody go by, no matter what the jockey does. Those horses who don’t have the heart to race are sold for a different sport, like dressage or jumping. On the other hand, the racehorse industry is terrible. The horses are started far too young. They race at two years old, which means they start training months beforehand.

Renee (00:12:14.13)
Their bones are not even done growing. There’s also rampant drugging of horses, catastrophic breakdowns on the track, and the whole thing is a mess. I hope they’ll clean it up soon. In the film, multiple horses were used to play Seabiscuit, each with a different skillset, such as close-up horse and running horse. What I find hilarious about this film is when the jockeys chatted with each other during the race. A race horse is going about 40 miles an hour. Try sticking your head out of a car going 40 miles an hour. You’d have to shout just to get one word out. These racing closeups were filmed with the riders on mechanical Equisizer machines. A jockey’s face is rarely visible or expressive during a real race. In this harrowing scene from Warhorse, Joey is entangled in barbed wire on the battlefield. Bog me worse this, but I didn’t think to bring gloves or something to cut… Two soldiers, one German and one British, work together to free him. During war, really had injuries and fear and trauma were part of the horse’s life during this time, just like the soldiers. Now, many people believe it’s impossible for a horse to stand still while it’s being removed from barbed wire.

Renee (00:13:27.10)
But actually, this is 100% possible. I’ve this many times as an emergency veterinarian. Now, if a horse is panicking, they will be struggling and kicking. One horse’s kick can easily break a human’s leg. So it’s definitely best to try and calm the horse down first before approaching to help. The film used multiple horses to play Joey as a single horse could not play all the different stages and scenes required. For a final bonus movie, we have Racing Stripes. Are you a racehorse? No, I’m a jumper. I’ve actually competed all around the the world? Well, I’m a racehorse. I’m training to be in the big race. By racing the mailman? Well, the other horses don’t want to race me. I’m just way too fast for them. This is a fun movie about a zebra who wants to be a racehorse. And you know what? Zebras can run as fast as horses, about 40 miles an hour. So if this ever happened in real life, it would be quite interesting. So as you can see, what we often see on screen and what’s really happening behind the scenes are two different things. This is a great reminder that if you If you want to help a horse, you have to go beyond the surface.

Renee (00:14:33.01)
You got to go past the bones and muscle to try to get to the root cause to really address the issue. For 30 years as a veterinarian, my search for the root cause is what led me to develop the Tucker Biokinetic Technique, or TBT. If you’re a horse owner or a practitioner, and you’d like to get beyond treating the symptoms and really help your horse heal, I invite you to click the link in the description to learn more about TBT courses. It’s the same technique my students and I have to heal thousands of horses. Check this video to hear their stories. Thank you and see you next time.

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