One-Eyed Horse - the Official Film Site

Welcome to the PRODUCTION DIARY! Each week, we'll hear from different folks involved with the production of ONE-EYED HORSE, about their experiences preparing for and making the film.We'll be presenting plenty of interviews, diary entries and photos in the coming weeks ahead, so drop by once in a while for a peek "behind the scenes".

The first entry is by actress Jennifer Rouse.

PRODUCTION DIARY #1 "Cowboy Bootcamp, Part 1"

For the last few months, actors have been coming to prepare for One-Eyed Horse at what we call "Cowboy Bootcamp".

I'm Jennifer Rouse and I will be playing the role of Helen Gatewood in the film. Like many of the actors, I hadn't been on a horse in a very long time. So, when Wayne Shipley, the writer and director, decided that he wanted to do "Cowboy Bootcamp", I figured it was definitely a good idea to get us all in shape with ridin' and shootin'.

Our instructor has been Patty Shipley, who has raised and shown horses pretty much all of her life. She has been an enormous help to me as well as to everyone else in showing us the proper riding techniques. Patty and Wayne have even taken the time to show us how to prepare a horse for riding by teaching us how to put the saddle, reins and all the other accessories on. I was a little nervous about riding again at first, but with their guidance I quickly learned how steer and communicate to the horses. So now, it's like riding a bike...or a horse...or something. They've almost convinced me that I want a horse of my own except for the fact that my backyard just isn't quite big enough and my dog wouldn't know what to make of a giant creature sharing his territory. Oh well. Maybe someday.

Pictured above are our three training horses, from left to right, Sophie, Wesley, and Black. They all have very different personalities. Sophie, although very lovable (when you're on the ground), can be a bit of a wild girl at times if you're riding her. I personally, haven't been brave enough to take a spin on Sophie yet. I'm working my way up to riding her.

Jonathon Ruckman, who will be playing the role of Dutch Logan, recently discovered Sophie's wild side a couple of Bootcamp sessions ago. I was waiting for my turn on the horses when I noticed Jonathon walking over to get on Sophie. Now, usually Sophie is reserved for the more advanced riders, so I thought to myself, "I want to watch this and see what happens. This should be good.". I should also mention that she's a pretty fast runner. So, Jonathon got up on her, so far so good, he turned her around, and then out of nowhere she took off in full gallup across the field. All I heard was Jonathon yelling "Whooooaaaaaa!, Whoooaaaa!". When she finally came to an abrupt stop just before almost running into the barn, Jonathon sat quietly on her for a second, amazed at what just happened, then calmly climbed down without saying a word, and casually walked away from her. Everyone that witnessed this spectacle was roaring with laughter.

Wesley (center), on the other hand, is quite the opposite. He's pretty much a go-with-the-flow type boy unless it's cold out. I can understand that! We all get a little fussy in the cold. But as long as he gets a big chunk of apple at the end of a session, he's happy. He's the baby of the bunch, only four years old.

Black (right) likes to show off for the ladies a bit as we discovered when another little mare was brought in to help with the lessons. Sophie, who is pretty much Black's other half, wasn't very pleased. All in all they have been great horses to learn on and have been working well with the actors.

-Jennifer Rouse (published 12/15/06)

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