The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

All horseback riders were stunt riders or experienced actors who were skilled at riding, mounting and dismounting. All running/galloping scenes were well choreographed, and actors used caution while on and near animals. When teams of horses pulled wagons or carriages, the drivers were experienced and teams of horses were familiar with each other and accustomed to the pulling action. Whenever horses were seen tied to posts/fences, they were attached to lead ropes tied to posts.

Whenever see the actor riding the elk, he was actually riding a horse, and the elk images were added in post-production as CGI.

In the scene where Bard is sitting on his horse looking down at the battle from the mountaintop, this scene was actually shot on a stage in front of a green screen. The stage had dirt brought in and the horses had proper shoes on for the action. The horse just had to stand in one spot with the actor on his back.

In the scene where Bard gallops into a courtyard and gets off his horse to look for his children, production covered the cobblestones with a thick layer of sand. A wrangler was located at each end of the set. An extra (who was an experienced horsewoman) moved in to hold the rider’s reins when he dismounted.

In the scene where Bilbo arrives home to find his personal belongings being put on auction and we see sheep grazing in the background, the trainers placed the sheep in various intervals on the hill prior to shooting. Trainers watched them off-camera to make sure they didn’t run off.

The crow and the bats were done through CGI.

Due to limited resources and scheduling conflicts, The American Humane Association did not monitor any of the dog, goat, pig and some of the horse action.