"You're not alone out there ..."
Monday, 4 December 1972 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arthur_of_the_britons“You’re not alone out there …” is what Oliver Tobias said when discussing the horses of “Arthur of the Britons” at a meeting with fans in 2010. He revealed that he rode two white horses in the series. One was called Bernie.
This archive was contacted by Sylvia Atkinson, who knew the name of Oliver’s other horse. She wrote: "When I left school (in the Seventies) I went down to the New Forest to work as a groom at a place called ‘The Compton Arms Hunt Stables’, next to The Compton Arms Hotel near Ringwood. One of the horses I looked after was a gorgeous white horse called "Skyline." I was told he was the horse Oliver Tobias rode in Arthur of the Britons! I remember he had a fear of thunderstorms, so I used to stay with him in the stable (Skyline, not Oliver Tobias!)"
Sylvia was able to identify Skyline as the horse below left. The horse below right, Arthur’s other regular mount, is Bernie. Bernie has a dark, elliptical mark on the left side of his neck, and a small slanting mark between the eyes. Skyline has a much more convex nose than Bernie, and a small pink mark on his muzzle. Also, Skyline tends to mouth the bit more than Bernie – possibly a sign of his more nervous nature.
Oliver Tobias told of how, in one scene from “The Challenge”, he was riding Skyline, who hadn’t been trained to cope with the loud clanking noise made by the two spears dangling from either side of the saddle. Skyline was spooked, bolted, and was running for ages in a blind panic. Oliver tried steering him towards a tree, but that didn’t slow him down, and Oliver was thinking of throwing himself off, but he eventually managed to get the horse under control again. Throughout most of the rest of the episode, Arthur is seen riding Bernie.
Sylvia also identified this big grey horse – another one who lived at the stables – as “Jim”. This big grey featured in the series - ridden by Eithna (Madeleine Hinde) in “Daughter of the King”, and at other times by Mark of Cornwall (Brian Blessed.)
The real names of all but one of the other horses in the series are not known, so they have been given names by this archive for ease of reference.
Right from the beginning, it is clear that both Oliver Tobias and Michael Gothard can really ride. According to Oliver Tobias, he and Michael Gothard had a joint audition, which consisted of nothing more than riding four different horses to the top of the hill, and back down again, together, and as fast as possible.
Kai is nearly always seen riding a bay horse. In the earliest episodes filmed, he rides a big dark horse with the wide irregular blaze and snip, which we have named “Trooper”.
Trooper was clearly a reliable horse, because he was used for performing stunts, such as jousting, in “The Challenge”, and dragging Mark of Cornwall, in "The Duel." He carried Kai and the two Saxon children in "The Gift of Life", and Kai and Goda in "Enemies and Lovers."
In other early episodes, Kai is also seen riding another bay horse, with a triangular star, irregular stripe and snip, "Pythagoras." In “The Gift of Life” and “Enemies and Lovers”, Kai is seen riding both Trooper and Pythagoras, but with the shape of Pythagoras’ blaze altered artificially to make him look like Trooper; he was being used as a substitute, presumably while Trooper was being rested or was otherwise unavailable for some scenes.
After “Enemies and Lovers”, Kai only rides Pythagoras for the next four episodes filmed.
Pythagoras with altered blaze, below left, and as normal, below right.
The Executive Producer's son, Sean, who played "Krist" in "The Gift of Life", felt that Michael Gothard wasn’t a natural rider (not an opinion anyone else has expressed) – or that horses he’d been given weren’t up to the task - because he went through a number of horses without finding one that suited him.
The horse wrangler, Ben Ford of Stroud, brought in another dark bay horse with an irregular star, short stripe and snip, and named it "Merlin" because “if this works it will be a miracle.” From this point onwards – starting with the episode, “Go Warily” - Kai mostly rides Merlin.
Kai also sometimes rides a dark horse with a small star (often hidden behind the bridle) and a faint white snip, which has been named "Blackstar" (below left), which later becomes Rowena's regular mount, and is also ridden by Benedicta. On one occasion, in "Some Saxon Women", Kai rides a silver dapple bay, "Frost" (below right).
Llud is most often seen on a chestnut horse with a blaze with distinctive curled marking at the top left; the blaze is very wide, almost constituting a “bald face.” This horse will be referred to as “Curly.” In later episodes, "Some Saxon Women", "Six Measures of Silver", "The Girl from Rome", and "The Treaty", he rides a smaller reddish brown horse, "Brownie." The smaller horse would have been easier to mount in the absence of a mounting block.
Other horses regularly seen in the series include this small flaxen chestnut horse with a star: “Blondie”, ridden by Dirk in "Arthur is Dead" and, Gawain in "The Challenge", and a large dapple grey horse with a pink snip, ridden by Garet in "The Challenge", led by Mark of Cornwall in "Rolf the Preacher" - "Pinkie."
In "Rowena", Arthur is seen riding another white horse with a pink mark on the muzzle, and a very long forelock, "Binky".
Two more bay horses most often seen being ridden by members of other tribes are “Yogi” – who has a star shaped like an inverted ‘Y’, and “Bob”, who has a small star like two blobs, one on top of the other.
In "The Penitent Invader", a skewbald horse is seen pulling a cart in front of the forge, and also helping Rolf's people bring home their dead.
Also appearing in the series are a chestnut, “Flame”, and a bay with a bald face, “Outlander”.
Another chestnut, with a thin straight blaze and snip, "Razor", is clearly identifiable in only one episode, "The Swordsman."
In the race in "Arthur is Dead" there are two very white horses, along with Bernie, Moonlight and Blackstar. One of them, "Acrobat", has a very fancy bridle, and appears to have been especially trained for stunts; halfway through the race, the rider gets the horse to rear and throw him off, and a bit later, the same horse falls, unseating him, presumably on cue.
Quick reference ID pictures.
Article in the Western Daily Press.
This archive was contacted by Sylvia Atkinson, who knew the name of Oliver’s other horse. She wrote: "When I left school (in the Seventies) I went down to the New Forest to work as a groom at a place called ‘The Compton Arms Hunt Stables’, next to The Compton Arms Hotel near Ringwood. One of the horses I looked after was a gorgeous white horse called "Skyline." I was told he was the horse Oliver Tobias rode in Arthur of the Britons! I remember he had a fear of thunderstorms, so I used to stay with him in the stable (Skyline, not Oliver Tobias!)"
Sylvia was able to identify Skyline as the horse below left. The horse below right, Arthur’s other regular mount, is Bernie. Bernie has a dark, elliptical mark on the left side of his neck, and a small slanting mark between the eyes. Skyline has a much more convex nose than Bernie, and a small pink mark on his muzzle. Also, Skyline tends to mouth the bit more than Bernie – possibly a sign of his more nervous nature.
Oliver Tobias told of how, in one scene from “The Challenge”, he was riding Skyline, who hadn’t been trained to cope with the loud clanking noise made by the two spears dangling from either side of the saddle. Skyline was spooked, bolted, and was running for ages in a blind panic. Oliver tried steering him towards a tree, but that didn’t slow him down, and Oliver was thinking of throwing himself off, but he eventually managed to get the horse under control again. Throughout most of the rest of the episode, Arthur is seen riding Bernie.
Sylvia also identified this big grey horse – another one who lived at the stables – as “Jim”. This big grey featured in the series - ridden by Eithna (Madeleine Hinde) in “Daughter of the King”, and at other times by Mark of Cornwall (Brian Blessed.)
The real names of all but one of the other horses in the series are not known, so they have been given names by this archive for ease of reference.
Right from the beginning, it is clear that both Oliver Tobias and Michael Gothard can really ride. According to Oliver Tobias, he and Michael Gothard had a joint audition, which consisted of nothing more than riding four different horses to the top of the hill, and back down again, together, and as fast as possible.
Kai is nearly always seen riding a bay horse. In the earliest episodes filmed, he rides a big dark horse with the wide irregular blaze and snip, which we have named “Trooper”.
Trooper was clearly a reliable horse, because he was used for performing stunts, such as jousting, in “The Challenge”, and dragging Mark of Cornwall, in "The Duel." He carried Kai and the two Saxon children in "The Gift of Life", and Kai and Goda in "Enemies and Lovers."
In other early episodes, Kai is also seen riding another bay horse, with a triangular star, irregular stripe and snip, "Pythagoras." In “The Gift of Life” and “Enemies and Lovers”, Kai is seen riding both Trooper and Pythagoras, but with the shape of Pythagoras’ blaze altered artificially to make him look like Trooper; he was being used as a substitute, presumably while Trooper was being rested or was otherwise unavailable for some scenes.
After “Enemies and Lovers”, Kai only rides Pythagoras for the next four episodes filmed.
Pythagoras with altered blaze, below left, and as normal, below right.
The Executive Producer's son, Sean, who played "Krist" in "The Gift of Life", felt that Michael Gothard wasn’t a natural rider (not an opinion anyone else has expressed) – or that horses he’d been given weren’t up to the task - because he went through a number of horses without finding one that suited him.
The horse wrangler, Ben Ford of Stroud, brought in another dark bay horse with an irregular star, short stripe and snip, and named it "Merlin" because “if this works it will be a miracle.” From this point onwards – starting with the episode, “Go Warily” - Kai mostly rides Merlin.
Kai also sometimes rides a dark horse with a small star (often hidden behind the bridle) and a faint white snip, which has been named "Blackstar" (below left), which later becomes Rowena's regular mount, and is also ridden by Benedicta. On one occasion, in "Some Saxon Women", Kai rides a silver dapple bay, "Frost" (below right).
Llud is most often seen on a chestnut horse with a blaze with distinctive curled marking at the top left; the blaze is very wide, almost constituting a “bald face.” This horse will be referred to as “Curly.” In later episodes, "Some Saxon Women", "Six Measures of Silver", "The Girl from Rome", and "The Treaty", he rides a smaller reddish brown horse, "Brownie." The smaller horse would have been easier to mount in the absence of a mounting block.
Other horses regularly seen in the series include this small flaxen chestnut horse with a star: “Blondie”, ridden by Dirk in "Arthur is Dead" and, Gawain in "The Challenge", and a large dapple grey horse with a pink snip, ridden by Garet in "The Challenge", led by Mark of Cornwall in "Rolf the Preacher" - "Pinkie."
In "Rowena", Arthur is seen riding another white horse with a pink mark on the muzzle, and a very long forelock, "Binky".
Two more bay horses most often seen being ridden by members of other tribes are “Yogi” – who has a star shaped like an inverted ‘Y’, and “Bob”, who has a small star like two blobs, one on top of the other.
In "The Penitent Invader", a skewbald horse is seen pulling a cart in front of the forge, and also helping Rolf's people bring home their dead.
Also appearing in the series are a chestnut, “Flame”, and a bay with a bald face, “Outlander”.
Another chestnut, with a thin straight blaze and snip, "Razor", is clearly identifiable in only one episode, "The Swordsman."
In the race in "Arthur is Dead" there are two very white horses, along with Bernie, Moonlight and Blackstar. One of them, "Acrobat", has a very fancy bridle, and appears to have been especially trained for stunts; halfway through the race, the rider gets the horse to rear and throw him off, and a bit later, the same horse falls, unseating him, presumably on cue.
Quick reference ID pictures.
Article in the Western Daily Press.