Charlie’s Angels (2019)

All horseback riders were stunt riders or experienced actors who were skilled at riding, mounting and dismounting. All running/galloping scenes were well choreographed, and actors used caution while on and near animals. The horse(s) rearing was a trained behavior. Whenever horses were seen tied to posts/fences, they were attached to lead ropes tied to posts.

In the scene at the racetrack where we see jockeys riding on horses, All horses were from the Jockey Club racing school. All riders were experienced jockeys. They rode horses as they normally would. The horses were held by racehorse grooms in the enclosed area in front of the jockeys room. On action, the jockeys walked down the yard, away from cameras.

In the same sequence where one of the Angels, dressed as a jockey, approaches the track, on action we follow the actress as racehorses in background were led around the paddock at a walk. When she subsequently runs after a car, through the stables, the hero horse was a trained horse used for filming, not a racehorse, so she was very relaxed and well behaved. On action the stunt double ran through the stables and mounted horse. When she actually rides the horse after the car, the hero horse was ridden by the actor’s riding double. On action the car down the central fenced off section of the yard. The horse and rider started out of shot at A, on sand pathway and on cue cantered 20m from A to B then turned right onto rubber pathway, to right of the route taken by the car, and galloped to point C.

When we see the actor chase the car on horseback, before throwing a tracker on the car, and falling off the horse, the filming took place on a grassy area dressed as a racetrack parade ring. Green screens were used to enhance and expand the set. Close up shots of the actress riding were undertaken on a horse rig. A stunt rider double undertook the action riding. The stunt rider was attached to a rig; two elastic ropes attached to the rider and those were attached to high cranes on either side of the grass area. The stunt double put the horse on a fifty meters straight canter pathway, starting in a squat position on the top of the saddle. Twenty meters into the pathway she stood and leapt from the horse, throwing a small plastic box towards the car. The horse continued cantering as the stunt rider jumped. The trainers grabbed the horse off-camera.