My Train of Thought

MORE FOUR-LEGGED PARDNERS

Not all horses achieved the notoriety of Trigger and Champion.  In fact, during the early 1930s, when westerns were mere fledglings, the studios rented horses from well known trainers who had ranches in and around California.  The emphasis was on the singing or main cowboy and not necessarily his horse.  Whenever the star was riding within a group of ranchers, or a posse, the obvious way to distinguish him from the rest was by his horse.  Most often, the star of the western film rode a mount more distinctive than the usual chestnuts or bays (dark brown body with black mane and tail).  The hero’s steed usually was outfitted with a fancy bridle, breastplate, and elaborate saddle which may have had tapaderos (covering over the front of the stirrup to protect the rider’s boot from falling through).  Trigger’s tack was equipped with all of this.  

When cowboys became so popular that they started touring and doing their own rodeo shows, it became apparent that the stars needed a regular mount and not one on consignment.  Sometime after he made the film Song of the Gringo, Tex Ritter (father of actor John Ritter), bought a white colt that he named White Flash.  The horse was half quarter and half Arabian.   

Tex used other studio-rented white horses as a double for White Flash.One of the rented horses was named Starlight, whose distinctive dark spots below his left eye, above his left nostril and on his neck made him stand out.

Jimmy Wakely with Starlight

White Flash (L), double (R)

Tex’s horse, as a Morgan, had a stockier build, bred for strength and endurance.  During his stint at both Grand National and Monogram Pictures, the credits first read Tex Ritter “and his horse White Flash”.  That stopped when he went to work for Columbia, Universal and PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation).  Tex’s wife, Dorothy Ritter once said, "Tex and I would get requests for autographs of not only ourselves but Tex's horse, White Flash, too."  She also stated that "We would put ink on the horse's hoofs and 'autograph' pictures for the fans."  In fact, she was in charge of White Flash’s fan mail.  White Flash lived to be 25, but sadly, he became blind (1961), so Tex had him euthanized.

Rebel and Lucky

I can’t imagine an All-American halfback giving up the gridiron to enter show business.  Nevertheless, that’s what Johnny Mack Brown did.  While appearing in low budget westerns for Supreme/Universal studios, he rode a white horse named Scout, however, his main horse was a dappled palomino named Rebel.   This horse was originally named Reno but was renamed because of one of his co-stars. 

                                                      

According to Ms. Reno Browne, "When I made the Johnny Mack Brown films, they changed my name to Reno Blair, to avoid any confusion.  They changed Johnny's horse's name from Reno to Rebel.  Without those changes, things would have really been confused."  The book Silent Hoofbeats, noted an interesting thing about Rebel.  Whenever Johnny would ride him into town at a full gallop, Rebel had a habit of coming to a sliding stop.

  

Admittedly, I had never heard of Charles Starrett, nor was his face familiar to me.  He was another football player like Johnny Mack Brown, who also got bitten by the acting bug.  One of his accomplishments was that he assisted in getting the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) started.  While he had ridden many horses in films, he was known for his Durango Kid series.  He portrayed a dual role and thus had two horses.  As the character, Steve, he rode a dark horse named Bullet.  As Durango, he was dressed all in black and rode a white horse named Raider. 

Raider

Actually, one of the steeds he rode was Silver, aka Silver Cloud, used in the Lone Ranger serials.  In Starrett’s own words, "Of all the 33 white horses I rode here was the best." Silver Cloud had a dark spot below and above his right eye.  At the base of his neck, he also had an elongated mark that almost looked like a scar.

Bullet

Lucky

 
Jimmy Wakely had been discovered by Gene Autry as a singing cowboy.  He became quite popular so Monogram Studios made a string of westerns with Wakely in the starring role.  His first horse was a pinto named “Tex”.  When Wakely bought him in 1945, the horse was renamed “Lucky”.  Prior to Jimmy acquiring the paint, the horse had been ridden by several other stars, including Raymond Hatton in the Johnny Mack Brown films.  Wakely gave the horse away as a prize on the “Queen For A Day” radio show.

 He then got Sonny, a golden red sorrel horse with four white socks.  According to Wakely’s daughter, Linda, Sonny was more like a pet, very playful and seemed more like an overgrown dog.  He was smart enough to get out of his stall and would head to the front of the house and stick his head in through the window to see what was cooking in the kitchen.  There are those who say that Wakely and Sonny bear a strong resemblance to Gene Autry and Champ.  If nothing else, the influence is definitely there, particularly since it was Gene who discovered this last of the singing cowboys.