Trigger

Trigger (July 4, 1934 – July 3, 1965) was a palomino horse made famous in American Western films with his owner and rider, cowboy star Roy Rogers. Pedigree The original Trigger, named Golden Cloud, was born in San Diego, California. Though often mistaken for a Tennessee Walking Horse, his sire was a Thoroughbred and his dam a grade (unregistered) mare that, like Trigger, was a palomino. Movie director William Witney, who directed Roy and Trigger in many of their movies, claimed a slightly different lineage, that his sire was a "registered" palomino stallion (though no known palomino registry existed at the time of Trigger's birth) and his dam was by a Thoroughbred and out of a "cold-blood" mare. Horses other than Golden Cloud also portrayed "Trigger" over the years, none of which was related to Golden Cloud; the two most prominent were palominos known as "Little Trigger" and "Trigger Jr." (a Tennessee Walking Horse listed as "Allen's Gold Zephyr" in the Tennessee Walking Horse registry). Though Trigger remained a stallion his entire life, he was never bred and has no descendants. Rogers used "Trigger Jr."/"Allen's Golden Zephyr", though, at stud for many years, and the horse named "Triggerson" that actor Val Kilmer led on stage as a tribute to Rogers and his cowboy peers during the Academy Awards show in March 1999 was reportedly a grandson of Trigger Jr. Film career Golden Cloud made an early appearance as the mount of Maid Marian, played by Olivia de Havilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). A short while later, when Roy Rogers was preparing to make his first movie in a starring role, he was offered a choice of five rented "movie" horses to ride and chose Golden Cloud. Rogers bought him eventually in 1943 and renamed him Trigger for his quickness of both foot and mind. Trigger learned 150 trick cues and could walk 50 ft (15 m) on his hind legs (according to sources close to Rogers). They were said to have run out of places to cue Trigger. Trigger became such a ham that as soon as he heard applause, he would start bowing and ruin that trick. He could sit in a chair, sign his name "X" with a pencil, and lie down for a nap and cover himself with a blanket. Rogers' most carefully guarded trade secret was to get Trigger housebroken.