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UPDATE, WEDNESDAY AM: Although production continues on Season 2 of HBO’s Luck, the network reaffirmed today that it will only shoot scenes that don’t involve horses as an investigation concludes regarding the death of a horse on the Santa Anita set. Although Luck centers on the world of horse racing, the multiple plot lines include gambling, personal stories and business intrigue.
With the media focusing more attention on the death of the horse yesterday at the track, HBO issued a second statement earlier today pledging “full cooperation” with the investigation, being conducted by the American Humane Association. With PETA predictably calling for the show to shut down and questioning the ongoing use of horses in the production, HBO reiterated in the statement sent to the media that an AHA representative had been on the set yesterday, adding that “recent assertions of lax attitudes or negligence could not be further from the truth.”
PREVIOUS, TUESDAY 7 PM: Tragedy struck again on the set of the HBO series Luck where another horse died today. The show, which features intense racing scenes, is currently shooting its second season at Santa Anita Race Track in the L.A. suburb of Arcadia. “An American Humane Association Certified Safety Representative was on the premises when the accident occurred, and as always, all safety precautions were in place,” the network said in a statement. “HBO and everyone involved with the production are deeply saddened, and are working in full cooperation with the AHA and the California Horse Racing Board to complete their inquiry.” While the investigation is going on, HBO is suspending the use of horses during filming of the show. The network also provided a statement from CHRB official veterinarian Dr. Gary Beck who said, “I had just examined the horse as part of our routine health and safety procedures prior to work that would be done later on the track. The horse was on her way back to the stall when she reared, flipped over backwards, and struck her head on the ground. Fortunately, attending veterinarian Dr. Heidi Agnic was there to administer immediate aid to the injured horse and determined that humane euthanasia was appropriate.” Added CHRB Equine Medical Director Dr. Rick Arthur, “As with all fatalities within CHRB racing enclosures a necropsy will be conducted. Unfortunately, we see several of these injuries in the stable area every year. They are more common than people realize.”
This is the third horse to die during production of the Michael Mann/David Milch drama series that stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. The previous two were injured and had to be euthanized during production of the first season, which prompted a call from The American Humane Association to shut down production. Shooting resumed after new safety procedures were implemented.
UPDATE: ‘Luck’ Cancelled — HBO To Shut It Down For Good After Horse Death
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Make way for the PETA protests!
Accidents happen, regardless of the number of safety precautions in place.
three deaths dont happen on a set. Even on A Ridley Scott movie with hundreds of animals.
If it was a accident due to “global warming” every Hollywood liberal would be screaming blue murder. It is just an animal..huh? What a bunch of hypocrites. Where are Dustin Hoffman and David Milch hiding?
This show has really let me down. It’s insubstantial.
Okay, this is just nuts. Time to cancel this show, it’s hardly entertaining anyway.
This makes me sad.
Let’s all read the headline and not the article! The horse’s death had nothing to do with its treatment.
a) A horse died on the set of LUCK.
b) Of what, boredom?
thats a solid joke.
solid indeed. I’m stealing it.
Three horses dying is more than coincidence! What are they doing to these poor animals! I hope everyone will boycott this show and HBO until they take it off the air. Horses are beautiful, intelligent creatures and they do not need to die for a TV show!
I am cancelling HBO!
We need more rainbows on TV.
I do not have HBO and really do not pick up their productions on Netflix, etc, nor am I a PETA member but this is really shocking. There are large scale films, Westerns or historical films where they have handlers and riders who know how to work in the best interests of the animals. What is this production doing wrong? If it is a matter of disease, it should be investigated by the health department, and if it is a matter of poor care, animal welfare should suspend them pending an investigation.
I hope you are prepared to own and take care of the millions of horses when people are no longer allowed to ride them or use them for racing/entertainment because they could have an accident. If people are afraid to use horses then who is going to want them? People don’t outlaw driving cars due to accidents, I don’t see why riding horses should be any different.
How can I enjoy the show knowing I might be watching a horse that has died making it. Every seen will make me wonder if that is the scene that killed it.
Hate to nit-pick, but if you’re going to comment on an entertainment website, especially an “insiders” site, you need to at least know how to spell the basic lingo. *scene*
Three horses die for this piece of garbage? Give me a break! Charge an excutive at HBO with the horses death – it can be done!
They’re being run too much.
Horses aren’t meant to do multiple takes.
Why did the horse rear? What scared him?
There is a lot of strange looking equipment and cameras and people around physical areas that are supposed to be low stimuli after racing.
For a second there I thought this was written in Milch’s irritating and pretentious pseudo-Shakespearean metre. Then the last sentence saved it.
For a second there I thought his post was written in Milch’s irritating and pretentious pseudo-Shakespearean metre, but then it was saved by the last sentence. Phew.
This is horrible! Racing horses so hard and having so much overstimuli that THREE die? I am no PETA fanatic but this is enough to make me one.
Exactly.
Exactly. As someone who works in TV and with horses, and who enjoys a show about the world of horse racing, from “Jockeys” to “Luck”, I have to say that if you are going to need to shoot all those racing scenes – which are admittedly beautifully done – this is going to happen. For many, many reasons. The fragility of the animals, the way in which the tangibles of a television production fly in the face of a race horses routine. I understand that this latest death was a freak accident, but the other two were breakdowns. And although such breakdowns are common in horse racing, two over the course of the season’s production indicates something is amiss. I am sure, the producers being horse lovers, are devastated enough over this and will address the issues in a responsible way.
Time to humanely euthanize the series.
You put it best.
I’m lukewarm to the show. It’s not horrible and in fact some of it is interesting. But, most of the horse racing plot-lines and characters are just absurd. It’s almost as if they’ve decided to do a show about caricatures at the track rather than characters at a track. Be that as it may, these kinds of accidents do happen in the barn. We lost a horse last year in a similar set of circumstances. I have no doubt that they’re taking all necessary safety precautions. They’ve just been snake bitten the last few weeks. It happens.
Not really worth the death of animals..
I love all this wailing and hand-wringing from people who know nothing about and have never worked with horses. I grew up at Bay Meadows and have worked at two ranches — one a cattle ranch and one a riding ranch. Horses are notoriously skittish, and thoroughbreds are the worst. They’re also incredibly fragile.
I have seen horses die under the most mundane circumstances. An inexperienced ride jumped off a horse and let the reins drop, and before I could get there, the horse reared, caught a rein on his hoof and snapped his neck. We once had a horse charge off the trail (with a rider) because one of the ranch hands rode by on a bicycle. Broke it’s leg in a gopher hole and had to be put down.
Those stories are nothing compared to what happens behind the scenes at the track. Hearts burst, lungs collapse, colic, you name it. They are fragile, fragile creatures and they cost more money than most barn workers make in a year, so you can bet no one is doing anything stupid or dangerous or dangerously stupid around them.
I’m sorry these accidents have happened. It is truly sad to lose such a beautiful, noble creature, but come on. I’ve watched the show. They use hundreds of horses in a single season. Some of them will die. I’m actually impressed that it’s only been three.
Winner. Get over it, people.
Real Cowgirl? The fact that you use that moniker proves that you are definitely not one. How can you be surprised that people are upset that three beautiful and innocent horses died for a mediocre show.? I’ve been around horses my whole life in many difference capacities – and never have I seen one die. Sure, they can get injured, but we would send them to the vet rather than shooting them like you and you fellow cow-folk probably did. And to say horses are “notoriously skittish”? You can’t generalize like that. Horses have all different kinds of personalities. This is a tv show – they shouldn’t be run or treated like real race horses. There are many ways to cheat things on a set. This smacks of Heaven’s Gate all over again. So, shame to the makers of this shitty show, shame on “Real Cowgirl” for being an indifferent hag, shame on the trainers on set – and everyone else involved. This is a travesty, and I hope everyone protests the show. And where is American Humane in all of this? Shouldn’t they may monitoring this?
I have also gown up around horses/ been around them all of my life and what Real Cowgirl says is true (sorry, it’s not pathetic, Jon). I’ve seen horses buck their riders, spook and rear at things as mundane as twigs, vines, rivulets, and holes in the ground left from extracting trees.
You guys can’t have it both ways – when we use animals as work animals, they sometimes die. Either your’e against that (and therefore against all animal labor and eating them) or you understand that they die when we use them for our purposes. Hopefully this show is treating them humanely (and it probably is treating them better then they ever would be in “real life”). You want to get outraged? Protest horse auctions and kill-buying. Protest horse neglect and abandonment. Donate to those charities that try to help and protect horses. Have an opinion (one way or the other) about horse slaughterhouses being reopened in the US. But don’t pretend like this kind of thing doesn’t happen in this world all the damn time.
OK “Real Cowgirl.” Have you seen the show? I watched two episodes with another horseman, that is all I could stand to see. The racing sequences are A JOKE. Horses are choked back and held off by REAL jockeys, so that the actor playing a jockey can “win” the race. I have read reviews calling the show’s racing footage “the most stunning ever seen on film.” The race sequences are NOTHING like a real race, where the horses are fit and everyone is out to win. Go to Santa Anita and see what a real horse race looks like! It’s nothing like the staged BS on “Luck.” A lot of the horses in the show don’t look fit and race-ready. The supposed superstar Derby prospect -who Nick Nolte was grazing on a loose hold while sitting on a lounge chair (try THAT with a fit young thoroughbred colt!) looked and acted like a 15 yr old retired racehorse brought in from a field! His forelock and mane were sunbleached red, that’s what happens when a horse is “put out to pasture.” Maybe people who know nothing about horses and racing think this show is based in reality. When a trainer sells you a horse he just claimed, and you return it to the barn of the trainer who lost the horse in the claiming race, BOTH OF THEM LOSE THEIR TRAINER’S LICENSE and get thrown off the racetrack. That’s the rules everywhere. A claimed horse can’t have his ownership transferred until the race meeting is over, unless he runs back in a claiming race and gets claimed again.
oh Cowgirl.. I am 42 and was born and raised on a horse farm back east that is still worked every day. Saying a horse is fragile shows you know nothing of their resilience. When you use examples of an inexperienced rider, gopher hole or a bicycle ridden by, this is on a set where trainers are supposed to look out for these situations and teach the production on set how this is done.
The horses that they use are not racehorses they are track horses that do not make the cut to become racehorses. They will either become show horses if someone sees the potential in them or sadly head to the factory… So the owners will gladly get a few extra bucks as they are already a loss in the profit column.
To say you have seen burst hearts, lungs etc, yes that is true as all track horses are run to the limit to see how they do, some don’t perform and are taken off the track to be broke or as I said be ridden for show. And many do die on the track for when they are pushed to their limit and they cannot take it these things happen. However this is a situation that can and should have been prevented. They are not some actor who gets coddled daily and brought coffee and gets their ass kissed by anyone with in sight. They are animals that need to be looked out for as they will run until you either stop them or they drop dead.
I would love to see Hoffman or Nolte get run for even 10 minutes and then put away hot and then see how they feel the next day, if they don’t colic and die.
You may have worked with cattle and horses, but do not express what you do not know and HBO you disappoint me.
maybe then the show should not go on, and, in fact, horse racing itself should be done away with. It’s a cruel sport that only losers are involved in. No pun intended to any sensitive gamblers on here …
You’re right, but in producing a TV show, the “actors” are required to do take after take after take and it’s risking fate. TV productions are grueling and the animals are under the control of their tight schedules and budget restraints. Horses – especially race horses – are creatures of routine and habit, as you know. A race horse “performing” in the context of a television production is something a fragile, habit-oriented routine is a recipe for tragedy.
It’s sad that someone who loves horses would reduce people’s dismay over the death of 3 horses “hand wringing” and and “wailing”. And yes, horrific things happen at “the track”. But this not “the track”. It is a television show with an extremely high budget and that has been afforded many luxuries in term of their production. You have to assume that a better job could be done with the safety of the animals. They are not expendable, like most of the actors.
cowgirl, you may have grown up with horses, but you are not a film producer. I have done many films with hundreds of horses and never had anything like this happen. so has ridley Scott. So have many people. And I have owned horses and ridden all kinds since I was very young. There are ways to protect animals being used for filming from this kind of thing happening. The wrangler should be fired. I’m sorry – three people died when vic Morrow was told to fly a helicopter too low on Twilight zone – noone said these things happen. Something is not right on a set where animals are dying. It happens once, but not three times. And btw, I think racing is an abomination to horses as it is. I do know what they do to those animals, and its nothing to be celebrated. We dont kill animals for entertainment in this country – unless you are Michael Vick.
I think the show is excellent. People who aren’t digging it should stick with CSI.
Milch is an animal lover–he owns countless dogs and numerous race horses. There’s no way the animals are being mistreated. As the vet mentions, several horses not working in television die this way every year. You just don’t hear about those ones on Deadline.
“Milch is an animal lover–he owns countless dogs and numerous race horses.”
Sorry to inform you, Lincoln, that ownership of numerous race horses does not imply one is an animal lover. Quite the opposite, in fact. You might as well say that he loves dogs because he has several fighting pitbulls.
you can’t put animal lover and race horse owner in the same sentence and be taken seriously. I’m no peta nazi, however, there is nothing loving about racing animals to their death for money.
I would be interested to hear more details. It seems unfair to assume the horse died because of something it had to do for the show. How often does this stuff happen to other normal race horses at Santa Anita?
Would the horse have been training for a race if it was not filming? Unless the production was pushing the thing too hard or running it for too long, I don’t see how the death could be HBO’s fault. Horses don’t know whether they are on TV or in a real race. A lap around the track is the same to them no matter what.
People who say they are canceling their HBO subscription need to chill the fuck out and get the all facts first. For all you know, that was a retired race horse about to be sent to the glue factory before HBO cast it in the series.
Love the comment….
“We see several of these injuries several times a year.”
For anyone who doesnt work around horses, just a little fyi if a horse rears up and flips over backwards someone is doing something wrong. Horses don’t just do that with no reason, they must be provoked and threatened. A horse flipping over backwards is a terrible tragedy and usually due to poor handling on the handlers end not the horse. It’s equivalent to a child pulling a dogs tail and ears and the dog biting, the dog wouldn’t bite if it wasnt harassed. Production should be shut down and the people working with these animals need to be fired!
To Real Cowgirl, you are pathetic. Saying that it’s no big deal for three horses to die on a show is outrageous. I grew up riding horses and have been around them my whole life – maybe on the hick ranch you worked on they died left and right, but not if you take care of them. And they certainly shouldn’t be dying for a terrible show.
Shame on you and the show
Now we get all high and mighty? What about the food industry..? We murder millions of animals knowing a huge portion of it will go to waist.
I think three horses for a tv show is pretty good compared to murdering thousands upon thousands of animals to make McDonnell’s burgers.
Maybe that’s just me…
It IS just you, you’re talking apples and oranges. And the word is “waste” not “waist”.
This show is no way good enough to be worth the lives of three horses. Any horses. The writing is boring. The speech patterns that worked so well in Deadwood and that brought down John in Cincinnati ruined this show from the beginning. Who talks like that? Stylized nonsense. Cancel it, please.
EVen though it started out horribly. I was beginning to enjoy it. I love the way they shoot the racing scenes. Now, of course, I feel awful for loving those racing scenes, knowing that 2 of the “actors” died in the course of filming them.
Having spoke with someone who works on the show, this person innocently shared that the horses are run for HOURS. And that the loss of 2 horses (this is from last season) is a small price to pay.
Furthermore, horse racing is barbaric and immoral. Horses are run for human entertainment, greed and gambling. And when the horses are no longer viable, even the champions, they are sent to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.
The American Humane Association is a joke – condemned by every reputable animal welfare organization. They don’t give a rat’s ass about animal welfare on set. I’ve witnessed that firsthand.
Three animals sacrificed for a boring TV show. Looking good there HBO
Enough of these stories already. Talk about beating a dead horse. In all seriousness though, this needs to be stopped. Even if that means pulling the show off the air.
This would be a really great Sheila Nevins doc. I can hear the Emmy acceptance speeches now.
I love that people are remarking that the horses died while making this ‘crappy’ and ‘terrible’ show. As if perhaps the artistic merits of the production dictate whether its worth losing a few animals in the making of it! I don’t like to see any animal suffer and die, but whether you like the show are not has NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!
I like ‘Game Of Thrones’. Definitely worth two dogs, a cat and a goldfish. Maybe a hamster, but only if it’s quick and painless.
Ha, I agree with you on that. I like(d) the show, but am dismayed by news of the 3 deaths over the course of one production season. I don’t think this should be a forum about the merits of the show, that demeans the tragedy of the animal’s deaths. Debate the merits of the television show on a forum that is intended for such!
Obviously the first comments on these posts always come from the assistants sitting at their desks chomping at the bit to say something negative before they know all of the details because it’s easy. Get over yourselves.
You have to give this show a chance to breathe. This happens ALL THE TIME at horse farms. You don’t think PETA makes shows with animals a bulls eye from Day One? It’s how they market themselves. Any time something happens with these horses at Santa Anita that is even remotely involved with this show, they cry for attention. Frankly, it’s how most organizations, including terrorist groups, gain support.
This is a David Milch show. There will never be another one so get off your pathetic high horse and suck down your ADD pills and give this show more than two episodes before you right it off.
Hey “Horse Lover” – no matter how many great shows David Milch has written, no matter how many racehorses he owns (and one was a Breeder’s Cup winner) this show gets it wrong. It’s bad story-wise because the characters are all tired stereotypes. But the VANITY of wanting to stage and film fake races, instead of just using footage from the nine REAL races a day that are run at Santa Anita, are sad. It’s obvious that there are many, many takes during the “race” sequences. Just look at them, and notice the sweated up and mouth-foaming horses running, for who knows how many takes. Notice the “race riding” that consists of choking back horses who are trying to make a run for it, so the Actor playing a Jockey can “win” the race. Anyone who has EVER seen a real race knows the races on “Luck” are STAGED, with take after take to get them to look passable. Yes, accidents happen, and horses and riders get injured. But you have to read the signposts and reconsider your filming methods when it keeps happening again and again.
I have to agree with you on everything except for that I was starting to get into the show – the first 3 were terrible – and am now ashamed to admit I thought the staged racing scenes were well done and exciting. But I hear what you are saying about the takes needed to get them to this point. I had not even thought of that when watching the show and thinking “say, this looks great!’ Now I feel like a schmuck.
Don’t feel bad Leigh. If you aren’t a race-goer, horseman, or someone who works in film, you wouldn’t see the giveaway signs that the horses on “Luck” were not fit racehorses, and the races were obviously stage. The filming was beautifully done, but the action itself consisted of horses being held back with the exception of “the winner.” The racetrack has “poles” and “turns” that are points of call for the announcer. In “Luck”, the horses passed those same “poles” two and three times in a race sequence. It was laughable to experienced racegoers, but the fact that it obviously took many retakes indicated overwork for the horses.
Sorry but the lives of animals >>>>> any kind of TV programm.