Hidalgo

A biographical movie about western endurance rider Frank Hopkins and his mustang horse Hidalgo, staring Viggo Mortensen it tells the story of the pair who took part in the endurance race in Arabia in 1891 where the pair raced against pure bred arabian horses.

Viggo Mortensen purchased his equine co-star - During filming the equine star Hidalgo was portrayed by a number of different American paint horses, at the end of filming Viggo Mortensen purchased RH Tecontender one of the horses used in the role. Screenwriter John Fusco purchased one of the stunt horses Oscar and retired him to Red Road Farm, his American Indian horse conservancy How much did Hidalgo make at the box office? - Hidalgo grossed approximately $18,829,435 on its opening weekend. It closed from theatres on July 22, 2004, with $67.3 million in North America, and $40.8 million internationally. The film made a worldwide total of $108.1 million.

Higalgo is Spanish for Gentleman - Actor Viggo Mortensen, who is fluent in Spanish, voiced his own character (Frank Hopkins) in the Spanish dubs of the film.

Below you can watch the final race from the movie
Frank T. Hopkins The movie is based on the life story of American long distance horse rider Frank Hopkins, born August 11th, 1865 he was a supporter of the Mustang breed and favoured Mustang horses over the more commonly used Arabian horses. Over his career Frank Hopkins claimed to have won 400 races all around the world, Frank passed avay November 5 1951 What is the true story of Hidalgo? Hidalgo is based of the story of Frank Hopkins who tells it as a true story, although not all events are in evidence with to support his stories, numerous sources cast doubt on the bredth of his life story, this being said we can all pretty much guarantee that Frank Hopkins certainly had an interesting life and could tell a good yarn.

Where did they film Hidalgo? Hildago story was based on a 3,000 mile race on the Arabian Peninsula, the filming took place California, South Dakota, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, Oklahoma, Glacier National Park, Kalispell and Morocco.
Is the Ocean of Fire race real? The 3000 mile race featured in the movie was named the Ocean of Fire race, although Longriders Guild, the Saudi Arabian Government say officially that there has never been such a race, Arab historian Dr. Awad al-Badi says such a race would be very unlikely and has no record of frank Hopkins competing in long distance races in Saudi Arabia. Below you can watch the official trailer for the movie
Vigo Mortensen is a keen horse lover and often bonds with his equestrian co-stars, at the end of filming on Lord of the Rings he also purchased 3 horses who were featured in the movies.

At the premier Vigo Mortensen rode RH Tecontender down the red carpet. If you found this article interesting please help support Stable Express and share it with your friends.