Horse Biographies

Pernell Roberts selected a horse named Candy to ride in the 1959 pilot episode. When the company started shooting, the horse was misbehaving on the set. He was immediately replaced with a horse named Beauty. The same thing occured in front of the cameras. They took both horses back to Fat Jones Stables. The filmed footage was left on the floor of the editing room. They immediately brought in a third Chestnut that producer David Dortort named Sport. The animal caused no problems and they were able to successfully film Pernell riding him for the pilot episode in April of 1959.      Adam would ride Sport during his six year stay on the Ponderosa. The horse was 7/8 thoroughbred, gelded and weighed 1,100 pounds. He had three distinct white socks on the lower part of his legs. The company was filming "The Dowry" in February of 1962 at Iverson Ranch. Pernell and Dan suffered a horseback accident when their mounts got stuck in the mud.      A month later, Sport was misbehaving and tossing his head around. Not even Pernell's stuntman Henry Wills could stop the horse from behaving like this during filming the final episodes of the 1961-62 season. The horse was taken back to the stable. Prior to the start of the fourth season, the horse was replaced with a lookalike who was virtually identical. The only telltale sign that indicated he wasn't the first Sport was the four white socks on each of his lower legs.

Adam and Sport in "Blood On The Land"

Pernell riding Sport at Gooseneck Meadow, Truckee during June 1962 stock filming.  Later used for the establishing shot in five's "The Cheating Game" in 1963.

Horse Bios:  Buck  Cochise  Chub

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