Hey everyone! My name is Tommie Turvey, I am a Stunt Horse Trainer. I want to share with everyone the steps I have to go through to get a horse or animal trained for their shot in a movie or commercial. This is Stunt Horse Training or Animals for Film prep and can involve a few steps up to several complicated steps.

First and foremost is the safety of the animal. I won't ever do a stunt or allow my animals to be put in harms way for the sake of a shot. I have to come up creative ways to make the Director, American Humane and my animals happy and safe when it comes to getting the perfect shot. Second is trying to bring out the best of the animal and what they have to do. Whether it is just standing there as background or a hero actor where they are a big part of the scene, my job is to make them look natural just like a real actor. I want them to be a part of the scene and look and act natural as they would otherwise, but having cameras, boom mics, moving dollies, lights and anywhere from 5 to 20 crew members standing by watching makes it a challenge and knowing your animals and what they are capable of is where it all counts. This makes it easy when you get on the set and are prepared to get the shots they need and make the director, producers, stunt coordinators and/or production company very happy. Especially the people who hire the stunt horses for filming.

Training is the key, but not just the behavior. You have to train for distractions as well. In the video link below, you can see me preparing one of my dogs, Ragnar for distractions with a horse coming up on his blind side. This is any animals toughest instinct to overcome, but with trust you can change and overcome that behavior.

https://www.facebook.com/tommie.turvey/videos/10218380950209104/
 
See you on the big screen!

TommieTurvey.com