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What cinematic horse moment has stuck with you??

11K views 96 replies 53 participants last post by  shaggy 
#1 ·
I was thinking tonight about the first glorious scene in a horse movie that forever captured my complete awe and amazement. For me, it was the scene from The Man From Snowy River where the main character and his brumbie mount fly off the cliff and run down the mountainside after the wild horses. The fearless moment when the brumbie did exactly as he was made, bred to do kicked in and the two of them conquered what the other ranch hands cowered at.

I'll never forget seeing that for the first time. I still hold my breath when I watch that scene, and every time I ride my horse down a hill, I feel a part of that same excitement no matter how dorky it is. Hehe
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#2 ·
theres 2 for me. the first one is the scene in black beauty where the boy and beauty are running and playing the field.
and the second one is in Spirit (i know its animated but i still love this scene) where Spirit and the indian are running from the soldiers and come to the big cliff and the indian says "oh no" and spirit says "Oh yes" and jumps the cliff lol
 
#4 ·
The Man From Snowy River where the main character and his brumbie mount fly off the cliff and run down the mountainside after the wild horses. The fearless moment when the brumbie did exactly as he was made, bred to do kicked in and the two of them conquered what the other ranch hands cowered at.
Just to nit-pick here, but the Man wasn't riding a brumby. If you read the poem, it is very clear what he is.

"With a touch of Timor pony, three parts thoroughbred at least,
And as such are by mountain horsement prized."

If you haven't read the poem, I would recommend it :)
 
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#6 ·
I read (and still have) all of the original Walter Farley Black Stallion books and was enamoured with the part of the story where he rides the horse for the first time on the deserted island.
When the movie "The Black Stallion" came out, I was already set up to be captured by that scene..... little Alec cantering along atop the horse at the edge of the waves with salt spray in his face. The Black's mane whipping around and nothing but the sand and sun to witness when he raises his arms in the air.

That scene is forever etched into my brain along with a few others. The descent from "Snowy River" as mentioned above really gives me goose bumps. (And yes, the poem is lovely. I have a copy somewhere.)

And for some reason, the horse from Ladyhawk always comes to mind as well. I know he didn't do anything fantastic per say in the movie, aside from some very dramatic cantering and rears, but it is another of those movie moments.
 
#56 ·
I read (and still have) all of the original Walter Farley Black Stallion books and was enamoured with the part of the story where he rides the horse for the first time on the deserted island.
When the movie "The Black Stallion" came out, I was already set up to be captured by that scene..... little Alec cantering along atop the horse at the edge of the waves with salt spray in his face. The Black's mane whipping around and nothing but the sand and sun to witness when he raises his arms in the air.

That scene is forever etched into my brain along with a few others.
OMG. Exactly the same scene for me! Exactly the scene that slammed into my brain when I read the opening line of the thread!

As well, from the same movie...when Alec was still on the ship (pre-ship-sinking), & was watching/hiding as the men with all the ropes on the Black tried, very cruelly, to DRAG the Black into his hold?? And Alec was just captivated by the whole thing (& no doubt hated those cruel men as much as I did!) :0)

Talking about "dorky" things done....when I was nine my family went to Hawaii to visit my step-grandmother...I spent the whole vacation running around in the surf pretending I was Alec riding "the Black" during their first fateful ride/swim together! Ugh. What a nerd I was! I need to buy that DVD! :0)
 
#7 ·
There are at least 2 or more movie horse moments that have stayed with me over the years. There was many scenes in Black Beauty that have stayed with me. The downhill scene in Snowy River still sends chills down my back. I was spellbound by the Pilgrim and Grace scene when she climbed onto Pilgrims side as he laid there quietly. I had read all of Walter Farley's Black Stallion series and I was slightly disappointed with the movie version. Then there was Hildago. What a strong will and stronger heart Hildago had to finish the Dessert race.
 
#34 ·
I was spellbound by the Pilgrim and Grace scene when she climbed onto Pilgrims side as he laid there quietly. I had read all of Walter Farley's Black Stallion series and I was slightly disappointed with the movie version.
I agree- Both Black Stallion movies were dissapointing compared to the books. But at least they did pretty good with the beach scene.

I"m not sure I even breathed during the scene where Grace climbed on Pilgrim from The Horse Whisperer. I read the book and watched the movie. Liked them both, but the book was a little more soul stirring, IMHO.
 
#27 ·
In Secretariat when he wins by quite a long stretch.
The scene in the movie gave me chills, and so does the actual clip.

Secretariat - Belmont Stakes 1973 - YouTube

I was watching that movie and every time someone said something doubtful or negative about Secretariat I would just giggle and say "wait for the Belmont!" When we finally got to that race I was jumping up and down on the sofa laughing maniacally and saying "I told ya so!" ... Everyone else in the house naturally thought I was insane lol.

One of my favorite horsey scenes comes from Lord of the Rings when Arwen is being chased by the black riders. Her pretty grey andalusian is doing all sorts of flying lead changes as they weave through the trees and then they get to the river and the water ponies come out and crush the bad guys!

I was in tears through most of War Horse. That scene with the barbed wire was especially excruciating to watch (although I agree he should have been way more cut up than that). As soon as we got home I went straight to the barn to give my horse a hug.
 
#9 ·
I've got two moments that have stayed with me since I was a very small child, and I believe they actually changed me as a person too... in a bad way.

Firstly, that scene from The Never-Ending Story, where the pony gets sucked into the quicksand. OMG. That film made me terrified of mud. I thought any puddle could somehow be never-ending, bottomless, quicksand. I cried and cried and cried for that pony.

Secondly, the scene from the old animated version of Animal Farm when the hard-working horse gets sent to the glue-factory... I was positively traumatized by that. Even as a 17 year-old, when we had to read that book for English Literature, I still couldn't do it...

Maybe it says something about me as a person, but I don't recall any positive moments from films that have stuck with me...
 
#10 ·
Electric Horseman. 1979. When Sonny turns Rising Star loose at the end of the movie to go be with the wild horses.

While it was fantasy and stupid to think that a thoroughbred racehorse could survive in the wild with the mustangs, ----- as he galloped toward the herd they showed it on the big screen in slow motion - every muscle rippling - absolute joy in the expression of a horse running free -- to the tune of My Heroes have always been Cowboys..

It was the most beautiful sight in the world to a 16 year old horse crazy girl and I cried and cried and cried ..

LOL
 
#12 ·
I watched Secretariat alone in the bedroom while DH and his cousin were watching ultimate fighting or something in the living room. When the movie was over, I walked out of the bedroom completely in tears .. face red, eyes swollen.

They looked at me and laughed. Then DH said "Oh honey, you have such a soft heart ... did the horse DIE or something?" ..

I said "No, he doesn't die .. he's just INCREDIBLE."

Suddenly I was an alien .. and ultimate fighting was sooo much more exciting!

lol
 
#14 ·
I watch those real clips of all three of his triple crown races a couple times a year ... I have the call of the Belmont practically memorized. I put off watching the movie because I was afraid they were going to mess it up .. but they really did a dang good job mirroring the actual races and calls ...
 
#15 ·
oh gosh i have many favorites which have already been listed... and another fav no one else mentioned i think was the movie misty ... when the brother and sister train misty and are able to ride her but realize that as much as she loves them and they love her, her true heart is out with the other horses and they release her back to the wild...

then the second is the old flicka with the boy who has the scared filly who was born from a susposed crazy mare who no one could break or train... and he after the filly's injuries with barbed wire the boy cared for her and was able to start training her... every little stride/step forward he made connecting with the filly was great

ps every movie mentioned in this thread has either made me cry, or get goosebumps so i guess i am also very overly emotional ;p
 
#16 ·
I agree that the scene from The Man From Snowy Mountain with the chase scene but like all films it is fixed.

If you watch the horses going down the hill they are not in a correct body position for a horse going fast down a steep hill.
This puzzled me for a while as the trees were vertical, giving the impression of the steepness of the hill.
Hate to be a spoilsport but the trees were cut and angled for the film.



The poem


If you watch these horses going down a steep hill you will see that the horses brace the front legs and sit right back on their hocks - which is not so in the Snowy River descent.
 
#19 ·
I love /n Hidalgo, when Hidalgo is bloody, dehydrated and can barely move....and he finds it in himself to pick up the pieces and gallop to the end when his partner prays to the Indian gods...love it. That whole movie is just awesome.

The end of Dreamer when the girl is saying the poem to the horse at the end of the race...

At the end of Flicka when the voice over of Katy says "Because when I am riding, all I feel...is free" and BAM it ends.

When in Red Fury, the man gives the colt to Frankie after Fury dies....
 
#21 · (Edited)
Well mine isn't a movie clip. It is from my own life. When I was in highschool, I had a black mare that was QH/Morgan cross. For some reason I woke up in the middle of the night. I walked to my window to see that it had snowed (in mid-state Illinois). The moon was really bright against the snow and it was gorgeous and the trees were glimmering from ice. I saw my mare in her paddock (around 90 feet from room) gallop, rear up and paw at the air just like one of the old Busch commericials. Seeing her blackness against the sparkling white snow, striking out with her hooves was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It is etched forever in my memory. She was the best horse ever and we owned her until she passed away.
 
#22 ·
I will be different here and pick a movie no one else has mentioned yet. One of my Fav horsey movies is Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. The scene where Senora gains the trust of the wild horse and then even through her blindness manages to jump on the horses back and completely trust him to make the jump.
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#24 ·
Hmm, there are several that stick with me.

1: Man from Snowy River, same scene as all the others, where they just leap off the cliff and run down that steep *** hill without a hint of hesitation.

2: Return to Snowy River, after Denny was killed, when he gets on the black horse, that scene where they top the hill in slow motion running flat out toward the camera. THAT is the exact reason why I've always wanted a black horse LOL.


3: Seabiscuit, when he is running the match race with War Admiral and just leaves him in the dust on the final stretch. Of course, watching it in the theater was awesome, with how they hollywoodized it and everything, but the real vid was much more incredible.


4: Secretariat, the complete runaway at the Belmont where he just stomped everyone and ended up running completely by himself, 25 lengths in front of the rest of the pack.
 
#28 ·
Smrobs....thanks for the video! I was barely breathing watching it and got chills when it was over. They were neck and neck for so long that I was holding my breath (and of course I already knew he had won). In the movie they made, I didn't remember them being together like that for so long. What a horse!!!! I have a 15.1 hh OTTB that never won but did place a few times. I always think of him when I watch Seabiscuit.
 
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