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Trigger
"The Smartest Horse in the Movies" By Joel “Dutch” Dortch
Soon after Roy Rogers signed a contract with Republic and before he began production of his first starring film, Under Western Stars, he began searching for a suitable horse to ride in his films. Back then, the “B” cowboy stars all rode beautiful “lead” horses as compared to ordinary “cast” horses. Republic sent out a casting call to the rental stables that provided horses to the movie companies. Roy tried out a couple of good horses but as soon as he got on a big golden palomino stallion sent over by the Hudkins Brothers Stable, he knew that he had found the horse he wanted and did not need to look any further. In truth, it was a match made in heaven!
While discussing a name for the horse, Smiley Burnett, Roy’s sidekick in his first two films, commented that the big horse was sure “quick on the trigger.” Roy decided that would be a good name for him and that is how Trigger got a new name. Smiley was right, Trigger was very fast; in fact he was the fastest horse on the lot. The beautiful golden horse was very athletic and could stop on a dime and give you nine cents change. He could cut and spin so fast that a less experienced rider could be left in mid air and yet his disposition was such that Roy could put three or four kids up on his back at the same time without any worry they would be injured, a remarkable trait for a stallion.
Roy’s eye for horses proved to be excellent. Trigger was without doubt the greatest horse ever to appear in motion pictures. Truly, he was “one-in-a-million,” an exceptional animal that captured the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, all over the world. Trigger was a contemporary of Seabiscuit. However, he had a much longer career and was more famous and more loved with more fans than the great racehorse. To this day, more than 40 years after his death, he is still one of the most talked about and loved horses in the world!
Trigger was four years old when Roy started using him in his films. He was born and raised on a small ranch near San Diego. Bing Crosby was reported to be a part-owner of the ranch. Originally registered in the Palomino Horse Association as Golden Cloud, in honor of his owner, Roy Cloud, Jr., he was the offspring of a Thoroughbred racehorse stud off the racetrack in Caliente, Mexico, and a cold-blooded Quarter-type mare. He inherited the speed and color of the Thoroughbred and the sweet disposition of the Quarter Horse.
Prior to coming to Roy, he had been ridden by Olivia DeHavilland in the Errol Flynn film, The Adventures of Robin Hood. Over a period of almost 20 years, the original Trigger appeared in each of Roy’s 81 starring films at Republic, plus Son of Paleface with Bob Hope and Jane Russell, and all 100 of Roy’s television episodes. This is a remarkable record unmatched by any other motion picture animal! Roy did have doubles for Trigger that were used in long shots and for some of the chase scenes. Making Western pictures can be very hard on horses as they may have to retake a scene several times to get it just right. Each of Roy’s films featured one or more “running insert” close-ups with Roy and Trigger following the camera car at a high rate of speed, and when Roy leaned down, patted his neck and spoke to the big horse, he would accelerate, often faster than the camera car. In scenes where they were following the camera car in a fast riding close-up, it is obvious to any knowledgeable observer that they had a true unity and partnership unmatched by any other cowboy star and his horse.
A few years later in 1943, Roy purchased Trigger from the Hudkins Brothers, for $2,500 on time payments. This was a lot of money at a time when Roy was making only $75.00 per week at Republic.
As soon as Roy would complete a movie at Republic, he would hit the road, traveling all over the country appearing in theaters, stage shows, fairs, and rodeos. Early on, the fans demanded to see Trigger. Roy quickly realized that all the movie-making and traveling were too much for one horse, so he acquired Little Trigger, a beautiful stocky Quarter-type palomino that looked a lot like Trigger except he had four white stockings and was not quite as tall. He was trained by Roy’s trainers, first, Jimmy Griffin and then Glenn Randall, for personal appearances and he had a large repertoire of crowd pleasing tricks.
Fans who saw Roy and Trigger in a personal appearance during the ‘40’s and on into the ‘50’s more than likely saw Little Trigger instead of Trigger. Little Trigger also made appearances in some of Roy’s films, notably Don’t Fence Me In, Heldorado, and Son of Paleface with Bob Hope and Jane Russell. Trigger also appeared in these films, although I don’t believe they ever appeared in the same scene together. He was given a starring role in Trigger Jr. (1950). This writer is of the opinion that Roy purchased Little Trigger before he purchased Trigger as he had an immediate need for a personal appearance horse.
During World War II, Roy made numerous USO tours of military bases with Trigger, or Little Trigger, performing for the men and women in uniform. During one record setting tour of Texas bases, Roy and his horse made 136 performances in just 20 days!
Griffin left Roy to go to work in the better paying defense industry during World War II, so Roy then hired a young cowboy and horse trainer from Nebraska, Glenn Randall, to take care of and help train his horses. Randall was perhaps the foremost horse trainer of all time and worked for Roy for many years. Roy spent a lot of time working with Randall and Trigger to become the very best horseman he could possibly be. Over time, he became perhaps, the finest horseman of all of Hollywood’s leading men.
When William Witney, veteran Republic action director (he directed 27 of Rogers’s films) and a noted horseman was asked, “Which of the cowboy stars was the best horseman?” He replied without hesitation, “Roy Rogers.” He went on to explain that good horsemanship is not in the seat or legs but in the hands. He said, “Roy had excellent soft hands.”
Glenn Randall stated that Trigger was very smart and a fast learner. He could learn tricks for bits written into the movies after being shown a time or two what was expected. Trigger was a star performer and became quite a ham. He quickly learned the movie business and when he heard the words, “Quiet on the set,” he would perk up, sometimes from dozing in the sun, ears alert, waiting on his cue, ready to work. Likewise when he heard “cut,” he would relax. He was fearless and had what horsemen call “a lot of heart.” He would do stunts in the movies that other horses would balk at doing and refuse. He had starring roles in three of Roy’s films, My Pal Trigger (1946), The Golden Stallion (1949) and Trigger Jr. (1950). Trigger even had his own series of Dell comics in the 1950’s.
In the late 40’s, Roy bought a beautiful palomino Tennessee Walking Horse stallion that he named Trigger Jr. even though he was not related to Trigger. Randall taught this horse a full range of crowd-pleasing tricks and even taught him to dance. Roy used him occasionally in films and extensively in personal appearances throughout the 50’s and 60’s. Roy used Trigger Jr. as a stud and raised some good palomino foals on his Happy Trails Ranch in Oro Grande, CA. Randy Travis owned a grandson of Trigger Jr. and Triggerson, the performing horse Val Kilmer led onstage as a tribute to Roy during the Academy Awards show in March 1999, is a grandson of Trigger Jr.
For a time, Roy had a whole herd of highly trained palomino horses that he used in a circus type liberty horse act. A liberty horse is one that works without bridle, reins or restraint - at liberty. Roy used this act in some of his personal appearances at rodeos and state fairs. The fact is that Roy owned and used many palomino horses throughout the years, some that he bought and some that he bred and raised. To the casual fan and observer, they were all Trigger!
Dale also had a beautiful palomino named Pal that she used in personal appearances around 1950. She used this horse in a pilot film that she made for television, Queen of the West. This show never aired because Roy made the decision to go into TV in 1951 and Dale joined him in the highly successful and long running Roy Rogers Show. She didn’t use Pal in that show because he looked so much like Trigger, it was felt that the audience would get the two horses confused. Randall found a nice buckskin Quarter Horse, Buttermilk, for Dale to use in the show. As a side note, Glenn earlier had looked at a beautiful chocolate colored horse with a white mane and tail for Dale to ride but determined that the stallion was a little too spirited for her to handle comfortably. When Rex Allen was looking for a picture horse, Glenn remembered the chocolate horse and told Rex about him. Rex bought the horse and he became Koko, billed as the “Miracle horse of the movies.”
For many years, Roy raised and trained Thoroughbred racehorses at his Happy Trails Ranch at Oro Grande, CA, near Victorville, and he always bred and raised a few good palomino foals each year. In October 1993, he sold at auction the last of his horses, which included grandsons and granddaughters of Trigger Jr.
Trigger, Trigger Jr., Buttermilk and Bullet, Roy’s dog, have all been beautifully mounted and are on display at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, MO. Roy told this writer that he regretted not having Little Trigger mounted and on display with the other horses. Be sure and stop in the museum when in the Branson area.
Saddles
Also on display in the museum are several of Roy’s saddles including his beautiful Bohlin silver saddles and his unique plastic saddles. Roy’s trademark Bohlin silver saddle first showed up on screen in 1942. In the Bohlin catalog of that era it is listed as the Dick Dickson, Jr. model. It is a beautiful black hand carved saddle with silver triangles and diamonds. Roy used that saddle throughout his career and it is now displayed on Trigger in the museum. Interestingly, Roy commissioned Bohlin to make a new silver saddle to place on Trigger shortly after he was put on display in the museum. Even though it is somewhat similar to the original, fans wanted to see the original saddle on Trigger so Roy had it put on the big golden horse. The newer saddle is on display in the museum tack room.
In the late 1940’s, Roy purchased another Bohlin silver saddle that is even more spectacular than the original. This saddle shows up occasionally in a few of Roy’s later movies. It is this writer’s favorite Bohlin saddle and is now cinched down on Trigger, Jr. in the museum.
Roy also purchased the Music saddle. It is one of the most elaborate saddles ever made. It was created in the early 1930’s for a lady named Mrs. Music and she rode this saddle in the annual Rose Parade and other events for a number of years. She was a small lady and this saddle has a very small seat. There are no known photos of Roy riding this saddle and only one known photo of the saddle on one of Roy’s horses.
It took 16 men almost a year to produce this saddle set that originally sold for $20,000 and reportedly contained 1,400 ounces of sterling silver, 136 ounces of gold and hundreds of Czech rubies. Roy bought the items from the original owner’s estate in 1950 for $50,000.
Around that time, Roy was huge in merchandising. Many department stores including Sears had Roy Rogers departments filled with toys, clothes, furnishings and just about everything under the sun with Roy’s name on it. This gorgeous silver saddle along with all the accouterments and accessories was sent store to store all around the country to be on display in the Roy Rogers department. It indeed was a unique attraction highly publicized by the media and drew thousands of people into the stores where it was appearing. This magnificent saddle was delivered to the store in an armored truck with armed guards on duty in the stores by the display. It was a successful marketing gimmick. Later, this saddle and all the accompanying accessories were on display in the museum for many years. The family sold this saddle in the High Noon auction in Mesa, AZ a few years ago. The selling price was a whopping $560,000.
Roy also owned a Bohlin silver saddle that was made for legendary cowboy star Buck Jones. This saddle was also sold in the High Noon auction along with one of Roy’s famous plastic saddles.
During World War II, tremendous advances were made in the development and uses of plastics. Around 1950, an enterprising saddle maker from Lusk, WY used plastic to make a line of colorful saddles. These saddles caught the fancy of Roy and he ordered several different ones with different color combinations. All Western Plastics, Inc. was a short lived business, making only 60 or so saddles before disappearing from the scene. Roy owned at least six or seven of these unique saddles including a special saddle made for the Rose Parade. He used these saddles extensively in personal appearances throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Illustrations (images will open in new window)
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