The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit: Behind the Scenes Interview

I can’t believe I had never seen the movie The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit before! My friend and I had a horse girls movie night the other night and she said this was her favorite, then shared her friend actually had a role as an extra! I reached out to my friend’s friend to see if she would share a behind-the-scenes viewpoint of what it was like to be on set for The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. And she said yes!

So our interview today comes from a fellow horse girl who was a little girl when Walt Disney filmed The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. She got to be an equestrian extra and is in the riding scene when all the kids are doing a huge group lesson. If you’ve watched this movie on repeat like many people admitted to when I posted about this film on Instagram last week, you might recall from memory the scene of which I speak.

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And now, straight from my Facebook messenger conversation I had with our extra friend who gave me permission to share this with you now:

“The movie was a great experience for all of the kids at Flintridge Riding Club. We were only involved for two or three days. I can’t remember–it was almost 50 years ago. Haha.

Mr. Landsberg, the producer or director, was somehow involved with the club. He needed background for the riding lesson scenes and the horse show scenes. So he paid all of the juniors at Flintridge to do the job. Instead of paying us and changing our amateur status, he had a junior clubhouse built next to the adult clubhouse. It made us feel very grown up.

For the days that we worked we were picked up at Flintridge very early by a private bus, and driven to the Disney Ranch in Newhall. And our horses were shipped to the barn at said ranch. There was a wrangler for every three horses; they were in charge of having the right horses ready for the right scenes.

You might also enjoy the Dream Horse Movie Review blog post.

When we arrived at the ranch we went straight to a big tent on a platform where we did our school work. When we were needed we would be shuttled out of the tent and taken to where they needed us. The reason I mentioned the platform was because of a little mishap that happened one day.

Each grade had its own table with a teacher that oversaw us all. When she thought we weren’t paying attention to our work she would push her chair back from her desk, stand up and yell at all of us. She did this a lot and we thought it a bit much.

Well the last day that we were there, every time she stood up she would shove her chair further and further back. And the last time she shoved the chair the back legs slipped over the edge of the platform and when she sat back down over she went out of the tent.

Well all of the kids thought this was hilarious and we all got in trouble for laughing. We thought it pretty prompt karma. Haha.

As far as meeting the stars, they were right there next to us but no introductions were made. Some of the older kids were given small speaking roles. But all the girls were in love with Kurt Russell. Haha.

[Snag your young Kurt Russell 4-movie DVD here (including The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit). You’re welcome, ladies. ~Susan]

There were three or four horses that played the lead role. All were varying shades of grey and they would paint the lighter ones with grey paint and a sponge to match the darker one that was the star, Aspercel. All the stand ins had different personalities which best suited the the scene they were shooting.

The runaway scene was ridden by Kenny Nordstrom, Jimmy Williams’ assistant at the time. I rode my chestnut mare, Firefly. She was a 15.3 Thoroughbred with a white blaze and a couple of white socks. Most of the time during the making of the film I was roaming around on my horse or sitting in the grandstand. But I am visible in one of the first scenes, if you don’t blink.

Now remember I was only 8 years old and I had short hair. It’s about three minutes in when the father shows up for the riding lesson to complain to the trainer. I am with another kid around my age and a woman (mother?) walking to her station wagon. We walk past the actors and get in the car and drive away. That’s the extend of my movie career. Hahaha.”

Thank you to our delightful interviewee for sharing a behind the scenes look at what it was like to be on set for The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. And because I loved the runaway scene so much referenced above. I was laughing aloud at the dad who didn’t know how to ride, galloping through the countryside, jumping fences bareback and bridleless–and wearing big fluffy slippers that stayed on during the high-speed jaunt through the countryside. LOL

If you haven’t seen The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, you NEED to–it’s really good. I could not find it on any streaming service so I think your best bet will be to buy the DVD (see the above link). Another movie we watched for Horse Girl Movie Night was The Horse with the Flying Tail you can stream on Amazon here. I loved that one too (a true story), but you’ll have to check back in for my review on that one.

Question: Share in the comments section–have you seen The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit? If so, what’s your favorite scene? If not, what is your favorite horse movie?

Thanks for reading and tally ho!

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