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to what will happen in the scene. For example, the loud sounds of war are introduced at lower decibels and gradually increased. The appearance of explosions are made from air kicking up dust, which makes the scene look like an explosion has happened, though the viewer does not actually see it. “It’s finding a happy medium where the animal feels


safe. Even though it looks really wild, some horses just don’t care that they have dust blowing over them,” Bobby says. “In the movie business, there is nothing wrong with cheating. We try to make it as real as possible, but we know it’s make-believe.” “It takes experience knowing what works, what looks


good, and what shows the personalities of the animals,” he continues. “Finder has a lot of experience at what we call specialty horses. A large part of my job in film is how best to bring out the personalities of the specialty horses.”


“Horses have good days and bad days, so we do scenes with doubles. Filming is different than for instance the show Cavalia, where the horses do one performance a day and they’re done. For us we might do one behavior before the camera 20 times. Anyone can get a behavior once. I can take a carrot and get my horse to bow. If I ask him to bow down 20 times for the carrot, he’ll tell me to jump in the lake. To get the animal to do something over and over without getting sour—that’s what is difficult.” Bobby adds, “Every day you’re training a horse no


matter what you’re doing with him. Every time we do something, we have to think if we’re ruining it for something we want to do tomorrow. We constantly think about what we’re filming and what we have to film next.”


War Horses Decline In reality, change and progression in the twentieth


century has worked in favor of the horse. After 5,000 years of serving in war, horses were on their way out after World War I thanks to mechanization of the accou- trements of fighting. Horse cavalry lost favor over tanks. A few horse cavalry units were still used in World War II, especially as scouts. By the end of that war, horses were seldom seen in battle although they were still used extensively to transport troops and supplies. Today, horse cavalry units have disappeared except in some third world countries where they are still maintained for patrol units. Most countries have retired their military horse units and some honor their history in both ceremonial and educational displays. Where are today’s war horses? You’ll find them com- peting on the battlefields of cross-country courses, jumping arenas and dressage arenas, as well as driving in the elements. They continue to partner and protect humans in sport. The spirit of the war horse lives on.


Right: Top and middle photos by David Appleby, SMPSP. Bottom photo by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP. © Dreamworks II Distribution Co., LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Warmbloods Today 19


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