Posts from Quirt Evans in thread „Duke's Movie Horses“

I want to thank you Hondo,Chester and itdo for your warm welcome and concern.The Searchers sorrel gelding was by far the fastest horse Duke ever swung his leg over.He had to have been contracted out because you can clearly see actor John Dehner mounted on him in a forgotten cavalry film from the 50's entitled Revolt at Fort Laramie.I believe John Ford liked this horse and that is why Duke rode him in thoses three films.After all if pappy picks your horse,you don't say no.He could have outrun the original white Duke from the 30's,Banner,Alamo or Dollor.He had flat track blue blood in him.The only horse that stood a chance of beating him,and on a good day could have was Steel.Duke only used Steel in Tall in the saddle and The Conqueror.Ben Johnson used him in She wore a yellow ribbon,Rio Grande and King Kong.Every one fought to ride Steel.Randy Scott,Joel McCrea,Greg Peck,Clark Gable.Hank Fonda was the last to use him in Warlock.Dollor was a huge horse.He was 5 foot 6 inches at the shoulder and weighed over 1200 lbs.Cochise was too small for Duke,but Howard Hawks wanted to show off his appy and that is the only appy Duke ever rode.Duke was a horseman for sure and for real.Not many men at age 64 could ride like Duke did in The Cowboys.Chuck Roberson doubled Duke for 27 years and owned a fall horse name of Cocaine that doubled for Dollor.Duke was on Cocaine for that John Ford special that Andy Devine was in.Duke broke his shoulder when his saddle slipped filming The Undefeated.Come to think of it,Clint broke his shoulder when his dapple grey slipped during filming Pale Rider.These things happen.In fact during a hospital stay in his last months Duke took a stroll through the ward and asked a girl what happened to her.The little girl said that she was hurt by a horse and Duke said that he understood,and knew what she meant.Duke truly was tall in the saddle and rode with a light hand on the reins,he didn't saw and jaw and jerk at their mouth.He use to complain that when others rode Banner at Republic that when he got him back,he had to reschool him because other actors bumped at his mouth and made him toss his head.I love John Wayne and I have studied him and his westerns.I don't know anything about airplanes,I have never led a charge in battle or roped wild animals in Africa,but I know actors on horseback and I never get tired of watching old Duke over and over again.This message board fits me like a used pair of leather gloves.

Boys, I am spankin new around these parts. It was June of 1962 and it just so happened that Liberty Valance was playing the week of my birthday. That is all I wanted for my birthday, to see old Duke and Jimmy on the big screen, and I have never forgotten him, Jimmy or that classic in 41 years. Now there is a great deal about everything that I don't know, beit Duke or anything else in life, except horses. I read with keen interest a story of old Beau still being alive a few years ago and that really caught my interest! True Grit was filmed in 1968 and if Beau had been a colt, say a four year old and new to movies and True Grit was his first film, that would have made him foaled in 1964. If he was still alive two or three years ago that would have made him 36 or 37 years old. Most horses live to be 27 to 30 before their organs shut down. Their are exceptions to the rule, their always is. Duke stated in an interview that the Walker he was riding in True Grit, in his own words... Just blew up! and he was replaced. You couldn't twirl a winchester and have the first Beau stand in his tracks. The second Beau has the blaze and stockings, but he is more red, while the first horse shows a roan cast to him. Duke only admitted to owning one horse in his name. A little Quarter Horse that the papers were in the name of John Wayne. Duke was a good rider. He didn't love horses, but he didn't hate them either. The horse Cochise from El Dorado was owned by Howard Hawks. Duke said that it took a lot of arm muscle to back him out of Ed Asners ranch. Banner was the horse at Republic that Duke rode the longest. Alamo was in The Alamo and his main mount in McLintock. Of course Dollor came along with Big Jake and except for the mule in Cahill U.S. Marshall, Duke never climbed aboard another horse, just ol Dollor. Now to my question. In The Searchers, The Horse Soldiers and Liberty Valance you see Duke mounted on a tall, very fast sorrel horse with a blaze with a tiny red spot in it. Duke only rode him in the three John Ford films and for no one else. It's like pappy Ford instructed Duke to ride this one special mount. The running insert where Duke rides and fires as he attacks the Indian village is one of the fastest galloping inserts ever filmed with a major star. Clint Eastwood never in his career rode that fast.I want to know the name of that horse and I have wanted to know for years. The Searchers is one of the greatest films of the Twentieth Century and I don't know the name of the horse that the greatest western star rode! He looks to have Thoroughbred blood in him and he was truly magnificent! Well old Quirt is your latest addition to a board that means a great deal to me. I will read every word typed for Duke and Jimmy Stewart are my two all time favorites and westerns in general are my cup of tea. Thank you for your time!