The British Olympian Carl Hester added much credence and intrigue to the short film, The Equestrian, by appearing in it in the same year he won team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Carl Hester is a superb equestrian – everyone knows this, but many would be unaware that he also has some thespian blood. His biological father is UK actor, Tony Smee.
“I was actually born in Cambridge in 1967,” Carl explains. “My mother, Brenda, had been sent there to stay with a social worker after falling pregnant while still at school. After I was born she returned to London to finish her A levels.
“When I was very young the doctor advised we move to Sark as I kept suffering bouts of pneumonia. There she met and married Jess Hester, a carpenter, and had more children. When I was at boarding school she’d sometimes ring and tell me to look at Coronation Street, Morse or other mainstream shows of the time so I could see what my father looked like. I finally met him in London when I was 19 and everything turned out well.”
As did Carl’s cameo appearance in The Equestrian, written and directed by Sybil H. Mair. Before starting to make movies she had studied literature and French and German languages, working as a freelance translator specialising in the social sciences. Her short film went on to win a slate of awards from festivals all over the world.
It tells the story of a young, ambitious dressage rider, Freddie Forester. His stallion is Gaius, played for much of the time by eight-year-old Sandro’s Dancer (by Sandro Hit) a 16.2hh Swedish warmblood. At the time of filming, he was trained and competed by Stephanie Eardley and owned by Rachel Struel, a British dressage trainer. Much of the action was shot at Home Farm Stud, Hartpury, in Gloucestershire where the stallion was standing. Other scenes were at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre in Buckinghamshire.
“I was going to adapt a short story about horse racing,” says Mair, “but then I noticed something much more interesting and subtle was going on in a horse and rider dressage combination. I considered it more intense and mysterious than other equestrian sports. Sandro’s Dancer was black and beautiful and trained to a high level in dressage.” (In her film the stallion looked to be more Prix St Georges than Grand Prix, but he did what was asked of him).
‘LOVELY BLACK STALLIONS’
The two stunt horses were chosen by British wrangler and stuntman, Andy Butcher. His most recent pictures are Luther and The Batman (2022) starring Robert Pattinson. “Andy brought two lovely black stallions, each with distinct strong points,” recalls Mair. “Ode Miro was an even-tempered Lusitano, and Inca a fiery Arabian x Andalusian.”
Freddie Forester was played by Layke (his middle name) Anderson, an English actor who had lived outside of Buenos Aires and worked as an apprentice gaucho rider. He went on to make films in Europe and has recently written and crowdfunded Sweet Brother – a philosophical inquiry into the darkest realms of the soul, and a meditation on man’s fall from grace. Not a whole lot of fun – but interesting. And so is the fact that he never refers to The Equestrian in his CV.
“Layke wasn’t afraid of interacting with the horse(s) physically on a more personal and emotional level,” continues Mair. “The other riders who sometimes doubled for him were chosen based on experience. At that time the regular rider and trainer of Sandro’s Dancer, Stef Eardley, managed him on set.” (Later the stallion was purchased and ridden by Sammie Gualtieri, based in Devon.)
“Some of the best moments in filming were how we captured the horse’s power and grace. My cinematographer, Tony Pierce-Roberts, and I wanted to discover and create magical moments which would represent the horse by putting his beauty, strength and natural eminence in relief. For me this is everything I find thrilling and addictive about riding.
“The audience needs to believe that he can influence events through the force of his character. Our dynamic camera crew wanted to push the boundaries of viewing the horse up close and personal. During the riding sequences they often ran next to the horse to capture shots of the legs or muscles, allowing us to show the power of the horse’s movements in a way I hadn’t seen on film before.
‘SPECIAL BUZZ’
“We were so pleased that Carl Hester agreed to appear,” says Mair. “He loved the script, but he could only confirm his availability the day before shooting the scene. This created a special buzz on set as he and his horse Uthopia had just won silver at the Europeans in Rotterdam.”
Carl was happy to be there and 100% behind The Equestrian. “After the success at London 2012 it’s fantastic a movie has been made about our sport – it deserves the recognition,” he said at the time.
Quite clearly this little film is not just about riding dressage – it’s the story of a young man with a blossoming career and amplifies his emotions with artistic licence. When Forester comes second to Carl, his behaviour during the press conference is sullen and resentful.
Later he takes out his stallion who, for some reason, is still plaited, tacked up and wearing a blue rosette. (In the UK the traditional colour of first place is red followed by blue for second, third yellow, fourth green, fifth pink or orange and purple for sixth.)
Forester rides around the indoor school abusing the animal. He behaves cruelly, falls off and lies on the floor in a singlet, with a bleeding nose, while being confronted by an angry black horse. There are cutaway glimpses of his widowed father – who used to be a rider but gave it away – eating a hardboiled egg.
As is commonplace in all horse movies, there is whinnying in all the wrong places.
The film’s score was by Tom Hunt, a British composer specialising in creating original music for dressage freestyles. He has produced some of the most notable themes of the past decade achieving world, Olympic and national records. For example, he did all the music for Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro’s major wins.
While Mair extensively researched the dressage world, spending time with many Olympians, this discipline is merely a means of throwing light on Forester’s journey to adulthood, his relationship with his father and, ultimately, himself.
The Equestrian is just 26 minutes long and available on Equus Film Channel.
Next time in Horses & Movies: Costner’s Dances with Wolves. EQ
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