The Horses Name

He's not a piebald, so that wouldn't be the reason.

Piebald would mean he had large patches of white all over, not just a blaze and socks.

I've also heard that, in the UK, it is often used only for black and white patches -- other colors would be skewbald.

Americans are more likely to call such a horse a pinto.

There may be distinctions I'm missing -- I'm not a horse or genetics expert, by any means! But those are the ways I've heard the words used.

In the original story written by Enid Bagnold, the horse was a piebald (black and white patches, like a what some call a pinto). I suppose that to keep the story as close to the original as possible but to be able to use a solid colored horse, a chestnut, or to not have to explain to USA audiences or not horsey people, what piebald meant, they just changed the Pie to come from being called "Pirate".

That's not the only thing they changed from the book as if I recall correctly, Velvet was blond with buckteeth, and didn't look a bit like Elizabeth Taylor lol!!!

The reason why he is called "The Pie" in the film is because character names are the only thing left of the original story. Obviously the studio was trying to cash in on the immense popularity if Enid Bagnold's book, but that is where the similarity ends. The majority of the characters in the film bear no resemblance to those in the book. This goes for the horse as well. "The Pie", as you have correctly discovered, was originally called that because the horse in the book was a piebald horse (white with black blotches). This is actually very significant to the plot because no one has ever and I mean EVER seen a thoroughbred racehorse that is this color. They usually vary from grey to bay, black, & chestnut colors. The fact that The Pie was Piebald meant that he was a "street" horse...just like his owner. The Browns in the book are simple folk, and are singularly unattractive. Velvet's mom, an ex-channel swimmer, is supposed to weigh 224 pounds, with layers of fat hanging off of her body, because she no longer swims. Velvet herself is mousy and thin, with braces & thin white-blonde hair. The family was totally glamorized in the film, which is a shame. Bagnold did such a great job of character development. And just an FYI; a "pinto" is the generic term for a horse with white & another colored coat. There is piebald (black and white), skewbald (white & any other color other than black), and tricolor (white with three colors). There are also different names for the patterns, but I won't get into that lol.

Whatever the reason, this movie completely ruined me and my girlfriend's ability to eat pie. Whenever we hear the word "pie", we always start saying "Oh, The Pie! The pie will run harder for me." and assorted other lines, in mock British accents. And we don't see it as funny at all; it's effing annoying. I can't have pie at all without thinking of this damn movie.

Know that, thank you, next question.
The Nameless Guy.