Bonanza: The Return (1993)
Animal Action
The Cartwright Clan goes after the train on horseback, exchanging gunfire with Brandenburg’s men. Benj jumps onto the train and rescues his sister, Sarah, but not before Brandenburg sacrifices his life to save Sarah in a dangerous moment on the train. To accomplish this, Benj rode alongside the moving train, enabling him to jump onto it. Care was taken to see that the horses ran alongside the train track but never directly on the track. Also, a hazier horse was used to control the other horses’ speed. Back up horses were used for various takes of this scene so as not to overwork any of the horses. In one scene as the Cartwrights and the ranch hands are going down the trail on their horse drawn wagon, an explosion goes off in front of them. Suddenly, another blast is detonated behind them. The perpetrators, Brandenburg’s men, then open fire on them from the bushes. The Cartwrights return fire as their horse and wagon race down the road. Soon the gunmen chase them on horseback as the gunfire continues. The wagon riders manage to pick off several of the horsemen, allowing them to put some good distance between them, but they loose control of the wagon when it hits a big rock, breaks away from the team of horses and bounces over a cliff. This scene was shot in cuts with fuller’s earth and cork being used for the explosions. The horses were at least thirty feet away from the explosions. When the wagon went over the cliff, a break away wagon was used. At no time were the horses in any danger of going over the cliff with the wagon. In this scene, as in all scenes involving gunfire, quarter loads were used and the horses wore cotton in their ears for protection. There is a scene where a horse is bucking and falls in the snow. The horse was not wearing a bucking “flank” strap. He was just playing on his own in newly fallen snow. Although he fell, he was not tripped and was not hurt. Also, he had been conditioned for cold weather and was blanketed when he was not being used. There is a scene of a flashback of Hoss and Little Joe Cartwright with many cages of rabbits in the background. The two of them almost fight because Little Joe wants to skin them and sell their hides and Hoss won’t let him. This footage was taken from an original TV episode of Bonanza, filmed over twenty years ago. There are many other scenes with horses and other animals. Some of this mild action includes horses walking, pulling wagons and being ridden.
