Staged horses
From BearWiki
Confirmed: The supposedly wild horses that bear approaches seem out of place and do not look or act like wild horses.
The horses that Bear approaches are well-groomed and amazingly tolerant of strangers. Some appear to have saddle back. The survival consultant for this episode has been found: Celeste Cole, the same person who actually built Bear's Desert Island raft.[1]:
Bear was given advice on techniques used to approach unfamiliar horses successfully. The horses used for the filming were mustangs captured from Nevada.
However, even this appears to be too kind. According to recent news articles, they were from a nearby pony trekking center. See TV 'survival king' stayed in hotels.
Update: This scene was removed in its entirity in the edited episode.
[edit] Analysis
Support: So, in short, they brought in horses to stage the scene.
- Oppose: She says "captured", meaning that they were wild in Nevada. Even if they groomed them before the shoot, that wouldn't make them tame. She's also very supportive of the techniques used in the show.
- Support: She would be. She helped stage it and was the one who provided the survival tips.
- Support: Even if they were captured in Nevada, how long were they in captivity? The horses were already subdued by being shipped over in the first place, even if not completely domesticated by it. Assuming that they were wild to begin with.
- Support: Looks like this issue is settled; they're trekking horses, and are perfectly tame.
- Oppose: If the horses had been completely tamed, as is suggested, wouldn't he have been able to successfully ride the horse?
- Support: Even tame horses aren't fond of strangers just trying to leap onto their backs. And what happens and what doesn't happen in MvW, as you'll recall, is based on a script.
- Oppose: The only evidence of a script being used is in the pilot episode, in which Bear had much less creative control over the aspects of safety and stunts.
- Support: And your evidence that they suddenly decided to change how they run the show, and have it truly be a survival situation instead of scripted encounters, is...? And your reasoning that horses *like* strangers to just try and leap onto their backs is...?
- Oppose: The only evidence of a script being used is in the pilot episode, in which Bear had much less creative control over the aspects of safety and stunts.
- Support: Even tame horses aren't fond of strangers just trying to leap onto their backs. And what happens and what doesn't happen in MvW, as you'll recall, is based on a script.
- Oppose: If the horses had been completely tamed, as is suggested, wouldn't he have been able to successfully ride the horse?
- Support: Looks like this issue is settled; they're trekking horses, and are perfectly tame.
Support and Opposition: Horses were brought in for the shoot because it was too dangerous to use the wild horses seen in a valley below by the crew two days earlier. They felt it would make an appropriate addition to the episode (which filmed much similar to the rockies and even parts of Moab) and would easily distinguish it from others. Horses arrived in a field, Bear confronted and displayed what might have happened had a real 'lost hiker' attempted such a stunt. Although bear never says for sure that they are wild. In fact, he mentions that they may have escaped from a nearby stable or ranch.
Support and Opposition: Wild horses would not have been "too dangerous"... they would have run away before Bear or the crew could get anywhere near them. The only way Bear could have approached the horse close enough to even attempt to mount it is if it was a completely tame, domesticated horse well accustomed to people. Even domesticated riding horses loose in a field might not let a stranger approach them. A horse who is any degree of wild or feral AND loose in a big open field would simply run away. The other silly thing about the whole scene with the horse is even if it was a domesticated horse that Bear was able to mount without the aid of a saddle, he would have no way to direct the horse where he wanted to go without a bridle or at the very least a rope. And since the horse was happy enough grazing away in a nice big field, Bear would have ended up spending the afternoon trotting around in circles attempting to keep a grazing horse in motion and going nowhere.
- Neutral: It's perfectly possible to direct a horses movements without a bit, or bridle. Leg reigning, or use of the mane is a common way to reign a horse when riding bareback.
- Support: A well trained domestic horse - maybe. A "wild" or feral horse? Absolutely not. Why do think the script called for him to NOT catch the horse? If he had ridden a "wild" horse to civilization using his ridiculous willow rope as a bridle he would have been laughed off the screen.
