Just cuz it is on the internet doesn;t make it so!!! :lol::winkgrin:
But I think when all is said and done, Trigger was a favorite of we all!!!
How to ID the ORIGINAL Trigger
The museum site also tells how to ID original Trigger
The original Trigger had a Left Hind stocking. The other Triggers had all four white stockings.
http://www.happytrails.org/_images/trigger/01-sm-Illustration%20Photo.jpg
Original Trigger’s blaze was between the eyes on the right side of his face and extended over the eye on the left. Also did not cover the full left nostril
http://www.happytrailsforever.com/view/?pageID=157671
Pictures of all the Triggers
Returning to the stagecoaches…
We went to a major mule show last summer, and one of the participating barns was also a movie ranch. In a vintage vehicle class the driver was driving a traditional stagecoach to a 4-up, no whip. In fact, only a few of the people driving small vehicles used whips, and none of the draft teams used them.
I saw the same stagecoach in the Rose Parade - this man is one of the Wells Fargo exhibition drivers. He was using a horse team for that outing.
That rancher also did the twenty-mule team exhibition drives without a whip, riding the left wheeler. He did have assistance from riders to keep everybody working properly
At a demonstration for a 40-mule wheat harvest team, we did get to see the swamper, or assistant to the driver, doing what most swampers did in the back when - it was his duty to fill a coffee can with small rocks, and when a mule or horse lagged in the traces, he’d ping them with a well-flung stone.
There used to be a splendid hitch of black pinto Saddlebreds, probably bought from the Scripps herds, that drove at the Oregon State Fair carriage classes. The owner had a beautiful coach and everything was done to perfection. The only short cut was that the driver was required to carry a whip - and he carried a short dressage whip, not a carriage whip. Only the judge and the other drivers knew the difference.
The historic stage drivers did carry their whips as nobly as any knight held his sword. The fiction book, “Six-Horse Hitch” by Janice Holt Giles, gives a great account about the early training of a prospective driver, using a feed rack as a reinboard and practicing taking and releasing contact. When the lead character in the book is awarded the whip of a deceased driver, he knows he has succeeded in his dream.
Slapping the horse with the reins is not just a movie thing. I would think it is more of a everyday drivers thing vs a schooled whip. Like when a vacationing person goes on a trail ride and pounds the side of their mount with their legs to get them going.
It can still be found today. I think I recall seeing some Amish use it when driving and here are a few references that I found doing a quick search. Obviously not all as they differ in abilities but a great example because they use horses for transportation.
http://americashorsedaily.com/horse-before-the-cart/
third paragraph down under “From Gate to Gait”
http://www.jacksliverystable.com/policies.htm
under driving instructions.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5440711_drive-amish-horse-buggy.html
step 3
A stage coach driver especially a New Englander would not be considered an average every day driver. They trained for years to become a skilled whip. The Concord coach as well as the method of driver was customized to handle their needs. Any movie depicting differently would be a Hollywood creation not based on reality.
Here is a good book that you can preview parts of regarding the Coach. http://books.google.com/books?id=OX4lEodmmMkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false
I have been known to pop a horse with a line. But then I am not and experienced driver. 
Don’t do it when anyone is watching.
Have I slapped my lines down on Smoke when driving? Yes, when I was new and green and was immediately corrected. Talking to my mentor now who has been driving and showing for 35+ years, you DO NOT slap the lines down on the back, it shows inexperience and lack of knowledge.
Like Thomas, I don’t often carry my whip but it is there and it is for when I need it. If I am showing and the judge is one who wants the ladies to carry, then yes, I do carry it. I have had to use the whip when Smoke decided that backing up and not working was preferable to trotting smartly down the road, she got a firm tap on the fanny and when that did not deter her yes, she got a smart smack and that straightened her up. It is a tool and there in case I need it and it is also an aide when I am driving.
I have seen those who boast they are experience teamsters slap those lines down on a team that was scared, hadn’t been together before and apparently that person also thought those drafts could read minds. I personally did not like to see how crass they were with them and walked away in disgust.
Well, since it is about driving, Fury was also driven in some of his roles - as he also was the original Black Beauty. He was a registered Saddlebred stallion and was never gelded. He was second only to Lassie in terms of $$s earned as an animal performer. His registered name was Highland Dale and he also performed in such movies as Giant, National Velvet, Gypsy and whenever the script called for a black horse.
He lived to be 29 years old and was never bred. Will have to check Black Beauty to see if the reins were slapped on his butt …
Now the most recent Black Beauty 1990is probably one of the best examples for not believing all you see and for not getting things quite right.
Ginger was a mare… well for some of the film anyway. played by 4 horses. That’s why his white blaze keeps changing.
Black Beauty as a foal was a filly and changed to a gelding later.
When Black Beauty paces his stable after Ginger goes mad and causes the accident, his bearing rein is loose. Then after Ruben examines the injury to BB’s , he takes off his harness and includes undoing the bearing rein.
Oh and lots of butt slapping with the reins too. But not for real.
My daughters and I spent the whole time watching versions of that complaining about what was wrong and never edited to put right.
I remember being corrected rather strongly on my first attempt at driving when I, educated by the film industry, I suppose, tried to slap the reins to get a little more impulsion. The words “never do that again” were used with a withering tone.
As a rider with at that time very little experience even with ground work, it was very hard to have faith in the efficacy of voice commands and a feel of the reins at first.
However, that particular voice command worked with me – I have never again slapped the horse on the butt!
I did it in my first lesson and got corrected nicely. I apologized to the horse because I knew better but lost my head because of inexperience.
So yesterday, daddio & I went out in the gig cart. I began driving but later handed him the lines. At the first stop sign, they halted, then when it was time to walk - he slapped the lines on her butt lightly. He drives with no contact and she didn’t step off at the voice command. I corrected him and told him to get some contact so he could then give back to her, and she walked right off with the voice command. He’s never ridden so knows nothing about contact. I’ve got to schedule him for some more lessons. Maybe he’ll listen to Mary. He sure doesn’t listen to me.
This cart driving adventure is turing into the canoe all over again.
Yip
