MGM+‘s Billy the Kid returns for more Wild West shenanigans beginning October 15th, and much of the action can be attributed to the show’s head horse wrangler. Learn more about his role, below, and how Season 2’s scenes came together.
Who
John Scott
What He Does
As head wrangler on the Western outlaw drama, Scott — whose 50-plus-year career includes The Revenant — leads a team of about 15, many former rodeo riders. They’re responsible for the care and handling of the mostly quarter horses who do everything from carry actors to pull wagons. His Scott Ranch in Alberta, Canada, at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, is home to several shooting locations.
(Credit: VICTORIA MCFADYEN)
In Season 2…
“We’ve got more actors, more action with the gunfights,” Scott says, as when Billy and boss John Tunstall (Tom Blyth and Linus Roache, above, center and right) battle rivals for control of New Mexico Territory in the Lincoln County War. To select mounts for those sequences, Scott worked closely with stunt coordinator Brent Woolsey. “We call them bombproof horses. They put up with gunfire, crowds, other horses,” Scott says. “We did a scene where the horse has to run straight with a guy dragging behind. You need safety wranglers at Point A and Point B.”
Behind the Scenes
Creator Michael Hirst specified that Billy’s horse be gray—and Steel is the series’ only gray or white mount (well, except for equine doubles Spider and Jess). “Your eye goes to the lighter-colored horse. That helps Billy stand out and doesn’t make him look like the bad guy. On this show, Billy’s a gunfighter but he doesn’t go looking for [trouble]; it’s always coming for him.”
Gotta Love It!
On rough terrain, the horses, which can number 60 on set, get a version of cowboy boots! Says Scott: “We put leather pads on under their feet so they don’t bruise their soles.”
Billy the Kid, Season 2 Premiere, Sunday, October 15, 9/8c, MGM+
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
