Movie star.

NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Number 3, March 2006

As well as working together on womentalkhorses.com, Lida Saskova and I also occasionally collaborate on film projects – I write and produce, Lida directs and edits. Inevitably, horses play a role in some of our productions. The short piece we are currently involved in uses the image of a horse to represent multiple dimensions of freedom and identity. The film explores the problems faced by a young Romany (Gypsy) boy who is forced to go to school, but who struggles with the claustrophobic confines of his windowless classroom. As a counterpoint to this character is an ephemeral Gypsy woman/spirit who provides some historical and cultural context to the boy’s experience. In order to create a complete contrast to the confines of the classroom scenes, we shot on location, in February, in Idaho! On location shooting is always a challenge with weather and lighting conditions and we had at least one false start when we wanted to film in snow, and were reminded of the old warning, “be careful what you ask for.” We got snow, lots of it, so much snow that none of the crew could get out of town to work on the shoot. But, eventually it all came together, cast, crew, and my lovely black gelding, Shadow!

Our idea was to have my good friend, and excellent rider, Ashley, stunt double our lead actress Nancy in the mounted shots, and let Nancy work with Shadow on the ground. Before shooting began, another good friend, Ann, who has worked with Shadow over the years, came to warm him up and help me to get his mind focused on his task. It has been a challenging winter in North Idaho this year. We have had a combination of wet, warm spells that resulted in days, even weeks, of deep mud that made my paddocks/sacrifice areas look and feel like chocolate pudding! These wet spells have been mixed with some near record-breaking cold snaps, and some severe snow storms. All of which is to say that conditions have not been good for working with the horses for the past three months. Consequently, Shadow was asked to perform after a long break from serious training or conditioning; we knew that we had to get our shots in just a few takes or forget it.

Like a pro, Shadow (and Ashley!) pulled it off. Ann brushed Shadow until his coat shone in the winter sun. We applied some baby oil to his face to clean off the dust and hay seeds that persisted, and his tail was combed out until it fluffed into its full glory. It was as if he had emerged from a muddy winter cocoon. With Ashley in black riding breeches, black boots and a gossamer skirt (so that she could hitch it up to ride), as close an approximation as possible to Nancy’s costume of black dress and boots, we had our stunt double ready to ride - almost. Our next challenge was to find a way to disguise Ashley’s helmet. With three horsewomen committed to wearing protective head-gear in the saddle, romantic images of free-flowing hair was not an option. Fortunately, Nancy’s character wore a large scarf around her neck and shoulders so for the mounted shots we simply tied the scarf over Ashley’s helmet and were able to hide it, for the most part.

This month’s issue of Western Horseman magazine contains a feature article on training horses for the movies. It arrived a couple of weeks too late to give us any pointers and Shadow was a rookie on the set anyway, but he did beautifully. He quickly accepted the camera, the tri-pod, and a very suspicious looking boom mic. He was happy to lead from both the left and right side, and he never balked at Ashley’s skirt billowing around him. We captured some lovely shots of him, cantering on the horizon; surrounded by snow covered fields he and Ashley formed a spirited silhouette. Then with one last shot, and we knew we had only one take on this one, Nancy walked Shadow across the dam of our pond, we got a great close-up. Then, like a movie star, Shadow tossed his head and declared that it was time to go back to his trailer (or in his case, barn). Now we have some beautiful footage to edit, and a parcel of memories of Shadow’s day as a star! We’ll keep you posted on the film.
Anna Banks, Editor womentalkhorses.com
editor@womentalkhorses.com
Moon Hill Ranch, Idaho