Bonanza first aired September 12, 1959. It starred four virtually unknown actors. It was also the first TV Western filmed in color, trying to attract people to buy color TVs. Because of this color fact, the horses picked for each of the four Cartwrights were also colorful. Each actor was able to pick his own horse. Here are some pictures of the real Bonanza horses, along with individual pictures of the horses I painted. (Bonanza pictures are from Bonanza! The Website; www.bonanza1.com and http://216.230.210.179/ )
Left to right: Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, with Sport, Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright, with Chub, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, with Buck, and Michael Landon as Little Joe Cartwright, with Cochise.
Sport, painted on a Breyer SM new mold Thoroughbred. Sport was 7/8ths thoroughbred. There were two horses used as Sport; the second one had 4 white stockings, and his name was Beauty. Adam never called his horse by his name.
Chub, aka Chubby, painted on a Breyer SM new mold Warmblood. Chubby was a half thoroughbred, half quarter horse, weighing in at 1,250 lbs to accomodate Dan Blocker's size. Chubby was replaced by two other horses, Ginger and Pauite, during the later seasons.
Buck, painted on a Breyer SM new mold Quarter Horse. Buck, a thoroughbred, lasted the whole run of Bonanza. Lorne Greene loved him so much, he purchased him after the show had ended.
Cochise, sometimes called "Cooch" by Little Joe, painted on a Breyer SM new mold Arabian. (Cochise was not an arabian) The original Cochise was brutally murdered in the spring of 1964, and several other black pinto horses were used for the rest of the show, for a total of 10.
At this time I am not taking any new orders for sets of horses. If you would like to be on a waiting list, email me and then I can email you
when I will be able to resume my painting. (Life has taken over for the moment).
Ok, so you can't see the horses very well... jeesh, can you blame me?! These two pictures are from the episode "Vengeance" which originally aired February 11, 1961
Free Counters
Created with DiDa!
background copyright JPayne, The Graphics Station
