learned that a lot of constant and partner,” Smith says. “So, for the [2014] film Jane instant communication between the Got a Gun [starring Natalie Portman and Ewan different departments is necessary McGregor and filmed at nearby movie ranches], to make movie magic.” I sat in on the pre-production technical meetings Besides dealing with directors, to grasp storyboarding shots, camera angles, and actors, and crewmembers, wranglers lighting at different locations as well as discuss the also have to concern themselves with expectations for the horses in each scene.” variables like other animals on set Before the cameras rolled on Jane Got a Gun, Smith and special effects. When working had to know how many horses would be needed and alongside where to place longhorn them for lighting and camera-angle Months before the movie cameras steers, churro sheep, chickens, purposes, and she had to make roll, Smith desensitizes the horses and turkeys in addition sure the horses to horses, any were conditioned to unfamiliar sights and sounds number of to respond on things can go cue and hit their they’ll encounter on set. wrong, which marks—whether it makes safety was to trot, gallop, a prime concern for wranglers. lie down, cross a river, or start and stop exactly where Horses are instinctual animals hardnecessary. It was Smith’s job to let the director know wired to flee dangerous situations, if an action would be impossible or too dangerous for real or imagined. Nobody wants a the horses and to suggest alternatives. 1,000-pound horse, spooked by a “There’s a lot of problem-solving involved when bleating goat, carrying off a film’s dealing with animals,” Smith says, “and you’re always star in a cloud of dust, so months trying to think ahead, anticipating what the wranglers before the cameras roll, wranglers need to do and making sure all the equipment— work with a select group of trusted saddles, reins, harnesses, wagons—arrives on location horses to desensitize them to the ahead of time along with the feed and water trucks.” sight of camera equipment, boom At the end of every long day mikes, sets, and props as well as of production, Smith handled unnerving or unfamiliar sounds: the paperwork, compiled the crackling fire, explosions, gun shots, wranglers’ time cards, and locomotives, and even mooing. submitted the information to Tranquilo, “The hardest part of this work is the production office and/or bronze, 7 x 22 x 5". being away from home for months the Humane Society. “I quickly Courtesy of at a time,” says Smith, who’s worked the Hollander on Sweetwater, starring Ed Harris Collection. and January Jones; the pilot Last Light at Sunset, acrylic on canvas for the TV show Vegas, starring 60 x 72". Courtesy of Pablo Milan Gallery. Dennis Quaid; and the pilot of Animal Planet’s Men Are Animals, with Sam Simmons. “But even though the hours are long and we endure things like extreme heat and dust storms, the most satisfying parts are when a horse performs beautifully for a difficult shot or I’ve learned something new from the other wranglers.” —Dorothy E. Noe
Siri Hollander
Pablo Milan
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Holly Smith was practically born riding horses on her family’s land near Abiquiú. The 27-year-old New Mexican was standing up on her mother’s rescued mustang at age two and riding competently by the time she reached kindergarten. At age nine, she talked her way into “assisting” Tim Carroll, a neighbor, family friend, and owner of TC Movie Horses, which provides period saddles, wagons, stagecoaches, and trained horses for countless movie and TV productions. “I started by keeping the water buckets full, mucking the stalls, and riding Tim’s horses to exercise them,” Smith says. “As a kid, I was thrilled to be on the sets of the films Wild Wild West, All the Pretty Horses, Wishbone, and Comanche Moon.” After graduating from UNM with a degree in psychology, horse wrangling on movie sets—a job that includes riding, caring for, and performing with horses—was far from her mind, but in 2011 Smith reconnected with Carroll. “Tim suggested I get serious about the business [side] of wrangling, with the goal of perhaps becoming his
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