In Memory of Robert Redford
Equestrian Hollywood icon, Robert Redford, died September 16 at the age of 89.
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Redford grew up in Los Angeles, far removed from horses and the cowboy way of life. He told People We Know, Horses They Love, “My first time on a real horse was when I was five or six. I admit it was just a guy dragging me around the ring at a pony ride, but it was instant love.”
At 15-years-old, he landed his first stable job during a family vacation in Colorado, a job that would turn into a life altering moment. “My independent streak was deeply rooted at that point, and I decided to stay. I did any odd jobs that I could find, including grooming and caring for the horses. I developed a connection with horses and appreciation that went beyond the satisfaction of riding horseback.”
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In 1961, Redford purchased a 2-acre plot in Utah for $500, as reported by Men’s Journal. “I learned the land by riding horseback with the sheepherders. So I bought my first horse and rode along with them. The deeper we went into the country, the more I appreciated that a horse is the best way, other than on your own two feet, to explore your environment.”
Redford landed his first horseback role in 1969, playing the titular Sundance Kid of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. “I had to spend more and more time with horses and get really good on their backs. It’s one thing to ride casually, but to do some of the stunts that are required and to come across on camera as being in control, you have to be more comfortable in the saddle.”
He became so comfortable in the saddle that in 1976, Redford undertook a grand journey, winding down the Montana border, crossing Wyoming, and then passing through Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas on the “Outlaw Trail” for an article originally published in National Geographic. The article later became a book.
He did all his own riding in 1979’s The Electric Horseman. “I was on this incredible horse called Rising Star, who was so fast and fired up. I got on him and we both hooked in. With the helicopter pulling away, I had to go so fast that my nose and the horse’s nose were almost equal.”
After filming, Redford bought Rising Star and kept him for eighteen years. The horse is buried on one of his Utah properties.
But it was the 1998 movie The Horse Whisperer that made Redford an equestrian household name. “For me it was a chance to demonstrate my own particular affinity for horses, but the film is also about a way of life out West whose disappearance is sad but inevitable. Still, at the heart of the story is a man whose sensitivity towards a horse, Pilgrim, could not only heal him but also heal the people around him.”
Redford trained with Buck Brannaman for months to prepare for the role.
In real life, Redford was well-known for being a staunch environmentalist and opposed to horse slaughter. He was publicized as working with Return to Freedom, a horse sanctuary and preservation group. His heart always remained in Utah, with him purchasing and selling several properties over the course of the next sixty plus years. On every property, he reserved several hundred to several thousand acres for wildlife habitat, streams and wetlands.
Go riding.
Amanda Uechi Ronan is an author, equestrian, and wannabe race car driver. Follow her on Instagram @au_ronan.
