Many famous horses have galloped their way to fame and into our hearts. Let’s meet one of them, shall we?
In 1932, a beautiful palomino horse named Golden Cloud was born. Full grown he stood 15.3 hands high and made his movie debut as Maid Marian’s mount in the Adventures of Robin Hood. In 1938, cowboy superstar, Roy Rogers purchased him for a whopping $2500 (today’s equivalent of $30,000) and renamed him Trigger.
Together they appeared in 88 movies and 100 episodes of the Roy Roger’s Show on TV during the 1940s and 1950s. Trigger was very intelligent and learned to perform 150 cued tricks and stunts for the movies he starred in. He could also walk on his two hind legs for 50 feet!
Not only did Roy and Trigger appear on TV, but they made countless visits to children in hospitals and shelters and personal appearances. Since their popularity soared so quickly, Roy knew he would need a few more horses that looked like Trigger to stand in for him because the workload would be too great for one horse. So, he purchased another palomino named Little Trigger to do the personal appearances and he bought another named Trigger Jr. to give the real Trigger a break when he needed it.
At the age of 33, in 1965, Trigger passed away peacefully. Roy had his hide stretched over a plastic rearing horse form, which was placed in the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans museum so people could visit him.
Breyer immortalized him and his owner with their very own models. Happy trails to you…
Trigger Picture that inspired his Breyer Model Trigger Breyer Model Porcelain Roy & Trigger Roy and Trigger