Training Horses for Extreme Stunts

Nothing is impossible when it comes to training horses.  However, it takes hours of  patience and persistence to gain the confidence and trust your horse needs to perform extreme stunts such as riding this slide.  The film “Hidalgo” had a scene where Viggo is galloping across the desert when they fall into a lion pit set up by one of the enemies.  Rex trained a horse to walk out on the bridge and then for it to fall out from under them to create the illusion of falling into the pit.  The stunt took engineers weeks to prepare a bridge that was safe and reliable.  the horse had to practice daily.  However when they were on location in Morrocco, another crew built the bridge.  It was not built to specifications and  did not operate correctly so Rex refused to let his horse ride out onto the bridge.  In the end the horse did not have to risk sliding into the pit and the scene was green screened.

This photo is from the rehearsal in California which was so scary for everyone that only Rex would attempt the stunt.