The Crown: Show Jumping Scene

[downen]

One of my favorite series, The Crown, is back. One of the scenes featured Princess Anne doing a show jumping round on Goodwill. Once again, I find myself annoyed at the typical stupid stuff they do regarding horses. How hard is it to have a horse person consulting? I mean, horses just don’t knicker on the approach to a fence. Horse people know that. I feel like there were other goofy things, like someone waving a white flag at the finish, but maybe they did that back then.

Is it just me, or do things like this bother anyone else?

[adelaide36]

I watched that scene chuckling, too! But from someone who works in both (horses + film/TV) the answer about having a horse person consulting is sadly: very hard. Having horses on set requires an insane list of legal, insurance, and union requirements and in most instances they sacrifice an on-set advisor for the necessary staff to just have a horse on set to begin with. Also, the nickering piece is done in post-production so that would be an additional person sitting with an editor saying “No that doesn’t exist” and sadly, that’s far above and beyond their desire or budget. My guess was whoever wrote or directed the episode felt that stretch of shot was too quiet and asked the post-production house to add in some sort of audio interest and they came up with that. The thing that did make me laugh, though is the announcer saying the fences were max height of 3’11! That made me legitimately laugh out loud. The white flag thing was also ridiculous but again, they’re trying to make things “understandable” to a non-equestrian audience so…people know what that means! What always annoys me is the wide shots but that’s necessary because it’s not Erin Doherty riding, it’s a stunt rider, and the VFX needed to correct that in post is annoying and expensive.

I worked on the first season of GoT and watching the dailies as Emilia Clarke learned to ride was one of my favorite parts of my job - she had never sat on a horse when she was cast on the show and she really tried to learn even though it scared her! She got pretty solid after some time.

[downen]

OMG I love that you’re an industry insider! How fun!

I know on a certain level that horse stuff always gets dumbed down for the non-equestrian peeps but I still find it annoying. Thanks for confirming my impression of the white flag, though.

How cool that you worked on GoT! Pretty cool that Emilia Clarke earned her riding chops on the show, judging from what I’ve seen on other movies/shows, that doesn’t always happen

[anon81364900]

So funny. I was cracking up (well, Mr. HH might say I was yelling at the TV) at how slowly she was riding the course. I mean she almost broke into a trot at one point. But in general, the production value of that series is really great. All those sets, horses, etc has to be super expensive.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

@adelaide36 Wow, that is incredibly cool you can offer an insider’s perspective! From my own experience in creative fields, I would agree–it’s so tempting as a horse person to ask why they don’t ask someone with experience to make sure they get it right, but quite often the material is marketed at people who know nothing about horses and don’t really care to know anything. So the result is recycling expected tropes, like ridiculous and incessant whinnying, rather than reflecting reality.

I can only imagine how frustrated the real Royal Family must feel, watching themselves being represented as iffy or timid riders, though!

I also wonder if there are logistical concerns about the choices they make–insurance concerns about jumping a certain height without modern safety gear and such, or the capability of the horses on set.

The best horse action I’ve seen on film in a recent production was HBO’s Rome. At least they didn’t let the actors use stirrups, to be more authentic.

[Backstage]

Princess Anne was an eventer, so the max height of 3’11" may well have been the show jumping height for eventing at the time. This wasn’t made very clear in the show - her father even referred to her show jumping career in one scene.

[downen]

I had another LOL watching The Crown last night, I think it was episode 4?

Princess Anne and the Queen hack out (on Friesians, of course) and dismount for a picnic lunch. Bridled horses are grazing in the background (Real Life: Horse steps on rein, spooks, snaps rein and heads back to the barn with his buddy behind him). Then Princess Anne gets on (off camera) and gallops off, leaving the Queen, whose horse barely notices (Real life: Left behind horse throws a fit because buddy just took off). Then loooong shot showing the middle-aged Queen gracefully mount her rather tall horse without a mounting block and gallop off. I even thought the horse was throwing in a few mild bucks in that scene, but it was hard to tell because the shot was so long and those Friesians have that showy action.

[Redlei44]

I haven’t yet watched The Crown, but I find the vast majority of jumping- and show-related horse topics to be ridiculous in TV and movies. Fancy or everyday cart pulling scenes? Fine. Riding horses into battle? Fine. Cowboys on the range? Fine. But I wonder if people who actually lived those lives would find them just as ridiculous since they would have actual firsthand knowledge like we have of the jumping and showing.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

I’m a writer, and follow lots of writers and book bloggers on Twitter, and someone posted a list of her favorite sex scenes on horseback. I had to restrain myself about commenting on the logistics of this. I bring this up because it underlined to me how many readers/consumers of media who aren’t horse people just see horses as pretty props rather than as characters in the story with personalities in their own right.

[173north]

I know it must be because it’s the saddle that fits the stunt rider & horse, but I was laughing at Princess Anne riding at Badminton 1979 in … a CWD Mademoiselle complete with piping and giant logo on the flap. The rest of her outfit looked dead on for the time period and they drummed up near-exact replicas of Diana’s clothing, but finding a saddle manufactured before 2015 (or just one with a plain flap?) didn’t come up!

[downen]

LOL I thought that was the case myself, just not familiar with that model of saddle. It reminded me how mad I was when the series Mad Men, that prided itself on historical accuracy, had all the wrong tack in the riding scenes.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Oh yes, so many historical dramas have bits that are completely inappropriate (or use dressage bridles from today). But since quite a few period-appropriate bits would be unfamiliar to modern horses, or cruel an inexperienced rider’s hands, it’s certainly for the best.

[Janet]

@downen

I feel like there were other goofy things, like someone waving a white flag at the finish, but maybe they did that back then.

First, I have never watched The Crown,so have not seen this episode.

But I do remember that, before electronic timing, if the finish line was in a place where the primary timer could not see the finish line “straight on”, they would position an assistant timer at the finish, who would drop a white flag to tell the primary timer when to hit the stop button on the stop watch. I think that, at the time when Princess Anne was actively competing, electronic timers were not ubiquitous.

Until relatively recently (5-10 years) 3’11" WAS the maximum height for the show jumping phase at Advanced (hghest level) HorseTrials and Three Day Events. It is now 4’1".

[downen]

You are spot on! They did show them timing it with a stopwatch, so the white flag makes perfect sense now. Thanks for connecting the dots on that

[RaeHughes]

The Crown is hardly factual! It is USA thinking that their ideas about the royal family are correct.
Come on - the actors are not all English and the accents are absolutely risible. Princess Anne has stated that she doesnt know why it takes so long to re-create her hairstyle - she only takes 15 minutes herself .

So why would we expect them to get the horses right??!!?? Freisans??? Really??? Thoroughbreds I can see but not Friesians.

Cant Netflix (or whomever is making this crap) take on some US family of importance?

[moonlitoaksranch]

I can’t believe they found an actor almost as goofy looking as Prince Charles.

Princess Diana looks like a spoiled brat with serious issues, but the prince comes off much worse.

I’m not sure the royal family would be interested in watching it, but they probably benefit from the attention, like all well-cared for pets.

Most of that family doesn’t seem to work, but their charities do some good. I can see why the British like their queen, and the youngest princes and princesses seem to have it together, but all those other ones are pretty worthless.

[clanter]

@downen

I mean, horses just don’t knicker on the approach to a fence. Horse people know that.

ours nicker when the kitchen light is turned on, then will bang on the gate if some one does not appear in short order

if during the afternoon when the microwave buzzes after heating the dog’s food the nicker begins as they are next

they are not just outside the window but 200 feet away

[downen]

Well yeah, food-induced nickers are common knowledge. But most horses aren’t anticipating dinnertime one stride out from a jump lol.

[moonlitoaksranch]

I just which whatever horse provided that original canned nicker sound would get royalties every time it’s used. Same goes for the canned neigh horse. Those horses would be so rich (or their descendents would be)!

[sophie]

@downen

I had another LOL watching The Crown last night, I think it was episode 4?

Princess Anne and the Queen hack out (on Friesians, of course) and dismount for a picnic lunch. Bridled horses are grazing in the background (Real Life: Horse steps on rein, spooks, snaps rein and heads back to the barn with his buddy behind him). Then Princess Anne gets on (off camera) and gallops off, leaving the Queen, whose horse barely notices (Real life: Left behind horse throws a fit because buddy just took off). Then loooong shot showing the middle-aged Queen gracefully mount her rather tall horse without a mounting block and gallop off. I even thought the horse was throwing in a few mild bucks in that scene, but it was hard to tell because the shot was so long and those Friesians have that showy action.

I had EXACTLY the same reactions as you during those scenes. Too funny.
I was hoping they would show us real footage of Anne’s eventing competitions…but nope.

As for the rest of the series, I can imagine that the royal family isn’t thrilled at the way the series portray them…Diana and her bulimia, the queen as a bad / absent mother, etc. etc. Fun to watch, though. And yes the actor playing Charles is perfectly pathetic for the role LOL