Supposedly these farmers can't hit the broadside of a barn yet every attacking rider gets shot off of his horse cleanly. Then the Gatling gun opens up while men are still riding around through the town and still no dead or injured horses. I guess that the horses of the men next to the Gatling were vaporized by that stick of dynamite. Did anyone see a single horse corpse among the piles of humans? This seems to be taking PETA movie standards to ridiculous levels.
You practically never see a dead horse in a Western. Why should this one be any different?
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The story is king.
Both Rooster Cogburn's and Mattie Ross's horses died on screen in 1969's True Grit. Hundreds died in 2011's War Horse but that wasn't a Western. There are lots of articles on horses actually dying while making movies but I'm not sure how to get a census of on-screen deaths.
A horse death could be fairly difficult to pull off. Dogs can roll over and play dead, but horses? In the old days they used to really hurt the horses in falls (deliberately tripping them), making the animal jump from a high place, or a 160+ pound cowboy jumping from a roof onto a horse's back.
Today, the horses can be completely digital, as many animals are. In The Lone Ranger (2013), some horses were digital.
I personally think that people just don't want to see horses getting killed or injured. I don't.
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The story is king.
one example in "Lawman" (Burt Lancaster).
shareThey weren't dynamite proof!! YEEEHAAWWWW!!!!
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