CowboyJack

There have been plenty of books and films about horses, or at the least containing horses.

How do generally feel about how these horses are being portrayed? Do you believe horses are handled in an authentic manner, and do you feel that these portrayals are harmful to horses in any way?

Just something to discuss.

Estelle

It depends on the film. Some films I think do fine but then yes, there are those that show only the wonder of owning a horse. Nothing about the hard work and potential health problems that they face, that cost an arm and a leg in vet bills.

But its the same with all animals, even down to spiders. One of the Bond films ended up pushing Mexican Red Leg tarantellas to the point of being an endangered species when people went nuts over them.

lynzi

I always see specials on TV about tigers being great hunters and elephants never forgetting. I have yet to see any special that comes to mind about horses.....why?

SaddleSore

Lynzi you are right. There are few documentaries that focus on horses as a real, living breathing animal. Sure they focus in film, but I haven't seen much of a documentary with them being shown, care, poop and all.

showboat

I think some people buy horses thinking it will be as easy as it looks on tv then quickly find out that it's expensive and a lot of hard work. If you think about it, the same things happens with other animals. Tons of people ran out to buy dalmation puppies for their kids after the live action 101 Dalmations came out. Unfortunately, dalmations are not a good fit for most people as they are very hyper and not the best with kids so the end result was a lot of dalmations ending up in pounds. At least horses are expensive enough to deter as many from doing this.

highstepper

The movie Indiana Jones and the lost ark comes to mind. That horse running alongside the truck, at the perfect pace, with a man climbing off his back and onto the truck. They are a faor bit unrealistic. But they're just movies. The big issue is people who don't remember that.

Shush

I agree that Hollywood is bad at painting an unrealistic portrait but you make a good point. Horses ARE too expensive for most people to be able to do with them what they do with other animals. That's a good thing.

eeyore

Everything in movies is unrealistic. The amount of makeup used on the actors, let alone the actresses is disgusting. If people only look at TV/movies to get their information they are bound to be disappointed down the line.

Mick

Speaking for myself, I definitely am not very satisfied or happy with how most horses are treated in films.

They are living beings, not just something for ignorant fools to bully and push around!

Horses deserve more respect from everyone, and the media isn't cutting it.

lynzi

I think one of the things we all go through as parents are trying to explain to our children that there are not horses with cones coming out of their foreheads. Sometimes I can see a horse on a show seeming to be a little more aggressive than times in person, not really sure if its just the shows I have seen or not.