I understand John Wayne used the same big red for loads of films but….horror…..he was not a horse fan….….…..killing the dog often bought retribution Armageddon style, and the odd horse got shot or died of thirst as the rider raced towards a showdown,rarely showed them walking the horses or sharing water,never saw they sunshade the
horse, and I do not think i can think of a western where the horse was all lathered up mock foam being easy, not that I ever want to see a lathered horse,once was too much,
I was riding a horse down a narrow lane when a large red lorry appeared, Reo my ride had once been hit bey a red car and was nervous and would often shy, he was so scared that he would not turn around both sides had fencing and I saw some barbed wire but still not with the risk of jumping and a dyke was also on one side I kept putting my hand up for the lorry to stop it was a foreign vehicle
I was shouting at him to stop so we could back up enough and me turn Reo but he kept following I checked later over a mile Reo backed up breathing heavy slowly building up a white lather on his chest and neck bad enough it started to seep down his legs,
when we got out to the main road the bastxxx just pushed through and drove off and honked! I walked the poor horse horse back to the stables where he was a livery they came out shocked when I explained what happened he was given water,offered food, i sponged him down, I pointed out his eyes had been wide open,and for a week he was not taken off site only used inside then one of the senior riders took him out I went on another horse as horse as a buffer to check he would be okay back on the road, and yep we had a couple of red cars but just his usually feint left (our side of the road) away from the traffic,
later they reported a red lorry had no bigger reaction than normal thank god, but it is a wonder he did not have a heart attack, they agreed there was little I could do and had bought him home well inside the w hours I had hired him for, and that walking him had been the best action,he did not buck bulk bite or do anything horrible but he would not turn his back on the lorry and the bastxxx was only a couple of feet at times from Reos face, if there had been two of us I would have got off and punched the driver how it was not obvious he was scaring the horse or maybe he got off on it.
Worst experience ever,worse than jumping out in front of a green double decker bus when chasing a scared pony that run out across the road with two of us in hot persuit the bus screeched but we just kept after the dam pony which we caught,kudos to the young rider who stayed on board and did not want a lift off when we cornered the devil, not the first time it had bolted and the school soof him with a cautionary over his history to a regular, they used blinkers and as far as I know that improved him no end. I love horses but I have done my best to exit the saddle in every direction you can inc underneath - never ever trust someone who says they did up the girth!