
- 224 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Silver Medal Winner for the 2025 Will Rogers Medallion
Twisting in Air chronicles the gritty and glittery era when an extraordinary group of horses made Western movies come alive and explores how one of them, Cocaine, overcame a debilitating injury to become the fastest falling horse of all. Falling horses came into being in the 1940s after movie studios agreed to abide by the Hollywood Production Code's ban on cruelty to animals and stop using deadly trip wires, tilt chutes, and covered pits to topple unsuspecting horses. Filmmakers still wanted to depict horses falling in battle, however, so they went looking for a new wave of "acting" horses who could tumble to the ground on command.
Cocaine was a thoroughbred–quarter horse mix who doubled many times for John Wayne's horse Dollor and appeared in a number of Westerns directed by John Ford. Coke was one of only a couple dozen horses who mastered the demanding athleticism required to fall safely at will. Twisting in Air offers an absorbing look at the dark early history of stunt horses in movies and the development of falling horses, the stunt riders who owned, trained, and depended on them, and the behind-the-scenes circumstances in which they performed.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- 1. A Mortifying Gaffe
- 2. The Lure of the West
- 3. First Came Fritz
- 4. Then Came Tony
- 5. Trip Wires and More
- 6. Ratcheting Up the Risks
- 7. Making Headway against Abuse
- 8. Learning the Ropes
- 9. In Search of the Right Horse
- 10. A Debilitating Injury
- 11. Learning to Fall Again
- 12. Tough Riders, Tough Horses
- 13. Doubling for John Wayne
- 14. The Searchers
- 15. Doubling for the Stars
- 16. Aging and Still Falling
- 17. The Return of Cruelty
- 18. Out to Pasture
- Epilogue
- Notes on Sources
- About Carol Bradley