A recent talk by Petrine Day Mitchum, co-author of Hollywood Hoofbeats, revealed some fun facts about one of the most famous movie horses of all time. Trigger was the equine sidekick of singing cowboy Roy Rogers. The iconic pair graced screens both big and small in the 1940s and 50s and share a sidewalk square with their prints side by side in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
With his distinctive palomino coat and flowing flaxen mane and tail, Trigger inspired a love of horses in many Baby Boomers, fueling the dreams of wannabe cowboys and cowgirls. In his long-running career, Trigger had 82 movies and 100 TV episodes to his credit. Trigger also had his own Dell comic book series, Roy Rogers’ Trigger.
Here are a few things to know about Trigger:
Trigger died in 1964 at the age of 33. He was preserved and remained on display for fans at the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum for many years. After the museum closed in 2009, the stuffed and mounted Trigger was auctioned off and sold to RFD-TV for $266,500.
Find out more about Trigger and other big-screen equine stars—from the silent movie era to the new millennium—in the updated edition of Hollywood Hoofbeats, by Petrine Day Mitchum with Audrey Pavia (Lumina Press).
Welcome to Horse Illustrated’s weekly installment of the Right Horse Adoptable Horse of the Week, offered in partnership with the…
Welcome to Barn Banter, the official podcast of Horse Illustrated. In Barn Banter episode 27, hosts Susan Friedland and Horse Illustrated…
Since 1992, Laura Connaway of Connaway and Associates Equine Insurance Services, Inc. has been working with her team to bring…
Chris Irwin really gets horses. Watch him at work—communicating with a horse—and you can see why Ireland’s Equestrian magazine boldly…
Working over ground poles has more uses in training horses than just being the predecessor to jumping. They can mix…
Being an equestrian and a horse owner is a time-consuming and expensive lifestyle. Because of this, it can be easy…
View Comments
interesting
Our neighbor, who raised Tenn. Walkers had the son of Trigger.
As I child, Trigger was my dream horse.
great info
I wanted to name my new born sister Trigger.
My favorite horse as a child, still watch old reruns of the movies.
I use to love that horse still do i watch old movies at night still and i also named my horse trigger and he does the same thi g the real trigger does he sites and kneals and every thing else thxs for the info and trigger and now i am going to name my name my other horse golden cloud pls thx agian
I just found out my grandfather who was a blacksmith took care of Trigger and Trigger Jr. He loved Horses!!