Trigger: Roy Rogers' Palomino Wonder Horse
Posted: Sunday, January 23, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
I was sitting on the porch in front of his ‘office’ in Pioneertown, California, talking with the ‘sheriff.’ The sheriff was in a full old time cowboy outfit. He is one of the Pioneertown Posse group that does the gunfight-in-the-street shows each weekend. He is also a local historian in the 1940’s replica western town that was built for films and television shows. Roy Rogers was behind the project. It was named for his back-up band The Sons of the Pioneers.
Trigger
One of the sheriff’s favorite stories is about Trigger’s horse race in Pioneertown. During productions stunt men always hounded Roy to race them on his famous palomino.
“Come on Roy, let us race Trigger," the sheriff mimiced in his fake Texas drawl.
Roy didn’t take up the challenge for a long time. Then one day, the sheriff claims, he finally relented. The race was to be from the Pioneer Bowl saloon, a couple hundred yards up the street to the OK Corral, and back. The stunt man was mounted and waiting at the start line. Roy rode up, dismounted and asked “You ready?”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you riding?” the cowboy was confused.
“You said you wanted to race Trigger, not me. He’s ready.” Roy smiled.
The stuntman thought about it for a minute. He was giving up over 150 pounds handicap, since Trigger had no rider; but, he figured there’d be no one spurring Trigger on or turning him around at the end of the street. He decided to give it a shot.
As we all can guess, Trigger, one of the greatest, smartest, best trained ‘performing’ horses of all time won the race in a blow out. No one ever challenged him again.
Roy and Trigger in Pioneertown, CA
Trigger is, debatably, the most famous horse in history. He is certainly the most famous palomino (excuse me, Bamboo Harvester aka Mr. Ed). Trigger is by far the best known horse in the film industry, having worked with the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, for more than a quarter century. He is often called “the smartest horse in the movies.” He is said to have learned so many ‘tricks’ that it was hard to come up with cues to teach him new ones. A stallion all his life, Trigger had no offspring. He died in 1965, was ‘stuffed,’ and became the most popular attraction at the Roy Rogers museum.
Trigger, for the first few years of his life, was named Golden Cloud. There are at least two ‘stories’ of his lineage. Roger’s director, William Witney, claimed that Trigger’s sire was a registered palomino and his dam was a thoroughbred. Since a Palomino Registry did not exist when Trigger was born in 1932, this has to be considered ‘legend.’ The most likely bio is that he was foaled on a small ranch in San Diego that was partly owned by Bing Crosby. The ranch manager was Roy Cloud, a breeder from Noblesville, Indiana. Trigger’s sire is said to have been a thoroughbred named Tarzan that had raced at Caliente track. His dam was an unregistered, cold-blooded (gently disposed farm horse), mare.
At three years old, Golden Cloud was sold to Hudkins Brothers Stables, which rented horses to the movie studios. His first big role was in The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1938. He was the mount of Maid Marian, Olivia de Havilland, in the classic Errol Flynn film. Later that year, when Gene Autry failed to show up at the studio due to some dispute, Roy Rogers found himself in the leading role of Under Western Stars. Hudkins brought in its best horses for expert rider, Roy, to select a mount. The third one he ‘auditioned,’ was a beautiful palomino that handled smoothly and reacted quickly to whatever he asked him to do. Golden Cloud “could turn on a dime and give you back some change,” Roy said.
Smiley Burnett, who was Roy’s sidekick in his first two films, was watching the ‘auditions’ and commented how ‘quick on the trigger’ Golden Cloud was. Roy thought it was a great name for a horse. He soon bought him on time payments for $2500 ($30,000 in today’s money), and eventually fitted him out with a $5000 saddle with silver and gold adornments. Over the next nineteen years, Trigger served the King of the Cowboys in over 80 films, over 100 television episodes, and hundreds of personal appearances. A contemporary of Seabisquit, Trigger became more recognized and popular with adults and kids around the world than the great race horse.
Trigger was, for good reason, called the “smartest horse in the movies.” Glenn Randal, who trained Rogers and his horses for many years, said that Trigger “was almost human.” He could learn ‘bits’ that had been written into movies after being showed only a time or two what was expected of him. Trigger quickly learned the movie business. He would perk up, even if dozing in the sun, and be ready for his cues at hearing the words “Quiet on the set.” He would relax and mosey off when he heard “Cut!” Roy said that Trigger seemed to know when people were watching him. “He ate up applause like a ham.” He is said to have known over 60 tricks, the most impressive of which is that he was ‘house broken.’ On a tour in New York City, Trigger performed in the ballroom of the Hotel Astor, dancing, rearing, pawing, and playing dead, with no ‘accidents.’ He and Roy sometimes delighted the kids by riding right into children’s hospital wards.
Trigger was a beautiful, big (15.3 hands/63 inches tall), strong, athletic horse. He was able to walk 50 feet reared on his hind legs. He was by far the fastest horse on the ‘lot,’ often out pacing the camera car during filming of close up chase scenes. Roy was proud that, in all of his films and TV shows, Trigger never once fell. He was fearless and had “a lot of heart,” doing stunts that many horses balked at or refused to do, said trainer Randall. Trigger could do cuts and spins that would throw riders less skilled than Rogers, who was reputed to be the best rider of all the movie cowboys. Yet, Trigger's disposition was so gentle that Roy could put three or four kids up on Trigger without fear they would be hurt.
Trigger's first starring role
Trigger had several starring roles in Rogers’ films: My Pal Trigger (1946), The Golden Stallion (1949) and Trigger Jr. (1950). Trigger put his hoof prints in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in 1949 (Roy came along and put his hand prints there, too). In 1952, for his performance in Son of Paleface, Trigger won the Picture Animal Top Star of the Year (PATSY) Award, given by the American Humane Society. He won the Craven Award for top stunt horse in 1958, another Humane Society citation. Dell comics produced a magazine series starring Trigger. He was so popular that he had his own fan club, with members from all over the world.
The movie business is grueling and dangerous for animals. Takes and re-takes, chase scenes, and stunts take a toll on horses. Coupled with the personal appearances, Trigger was under tremendous stress. Roy acquired several look-alikes to take the pressure off his famous ‘partner.’ Trigger Jr, was a palomino Tennessee Walking Horse stallion Roy bought in the late 1940’s. He was trained to do many of Trigger’s stunts and was frequently used for public appearances in the ’50’s and ‘60’s. Upon Trigger’s retirement, a third horse, Little Trigger, began to assume some of the duties. Roy actually kept a small herd of trained palomino horses. To the fans though, Roy Rogers was always mounted on the Trigger.
Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger in his famous pose
Trigger quit the entertainment industry in 1957, when he was about 25 years old. He retired to a stable near Roy’s Ranch in Victorville, where he “could roam through the green grass and relax in the California sunshine.” The greatest Wonder Horse peacefully passed away on July 3, 1965, at age 33. The Smithsonian asked for Trigger’s body, to put it on display in Washington as a part of their Americana section. Roy declined, not wanting him so far away. Unable to inter his great pal, Roy had Trigger skinned and stuffed in his famous reared up pose. The rest of his remains were buried on one of Roy’s ranches at Thousand Oaks, CA.
Trigger, Trigger Jr, Dale Evans' horse Buttermilk and the Wonder Dog Bullet were all mounted and put on display at the Roy Rogers, Dale Evan’s Museum. A 24 ft fiberglass replica of Trigger was made and mounted on top the museum. With Roy's permission, a second of the ‘statues’ was made before the mold was broken. "Bucky the Bronco", stands above the score board in the Denver football stadium. Originally in Apple Valley, CA, the museum moved to Victorville in 1976. After the death of Roy Rogers in 1998, and Dale Evans in 2001, the museum was moved to Branson, Missouri. It closed in 2009. On July 14-15, 2010, Trigger was sold at Christie’s auction house in New Your City for $266,500 to RFD-TV, which plans to open a Western Heritage museum.
I want to believe the sheriff’s story about Trigger’s race in Pioneertown. It just has to be true. I, like so many others, am a fan of Trigger, one of the greatest horses in history. Today, over 43 years after he died, over half a century after he retired from show business, ask any American, ask any one in the world, to name three famous horses. If they don’t mention Trigger, I’ll bet they can’t name three at all.
The Immortal Trigger
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)What a great story, Jack, and what a great character! Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad he was allowed to retire and spend the rest of his life peacefully - that's just beautiful...Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Jennifer.
Hey- That was a good story Jack- I remember watching Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger on our little 5 inch screen TV set, when I was about twelve yrs.old- that screen was so tiny you needed a magnifying glass just to find it- but we thought it was the greatest thing ever invented... every kid on the block dreamed of having a horse like Trigger... he's the most famous horse who ever lived.... good old days... I learned things about Trigger that I never knew-Thanks for a nostalgic stroll down memory lane- Always- EllaAs always, thanks so much for reading and commenting, friend.
Now here's my kind of article. What a terrific subject - Trigger. I love the more gentle times when Trigger was a star. You had facts in your story with background and history I did not previously know. It was really interesting. And here - me a horsewoman - I did not know that Trigger Jr. was not Trigger's colt. Nor did I know that Trigger had no foals of his own. I do know he was exceedingly smart with heaps of horse sense. I personally had some of the Trigger comics. There was a Silver comics too. It stll pleases me today that I was able to enjoy the singing cowboy and the western that made Roy Rogers, Trigger, and Dale Evans famous. They were characters in TV shows that I remember and cherish - a bygone era I know, but one that was memorable and wholesome nonetheless.
Anybody out there for Fury or The Lone Ranger? For those of you not into the horses so much, how about RinTinTin? Or not into animals in a big way, then how about Sky King?Thanks for reading and commenting-I loved Fury and Rin-tin-tin and Sky king
the 3 famous horses are, TRIGGER ROY ROGERS,CHAMPION GENE AUTRY and SILVER THE LONE RANGERI believe there were dozens of Champions. A different one nearly every year.
the 3 famous horses are, TRIGGER ROY ROGERS,CHAMPION GENE AUTRY and SILVER THE LONE RANGERThanks for reading and commenting
Loved the article about trigger , love the palomino horses made me want to cry such a good story , I use to watch all the movies they made
and of course I have a palomino horse , I don,t think there is a prettier horse
thanks for the articleThanks for reading and commenting
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