Nearly a week ago on March 21st, a horse suffered a cardiac arrest ahead of rehearsals on the production of the second season of Amazon’s mega-budget fantasy streaming series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.
According to Variety, sources near the production say more than 30 horses were being employed on the day the incident occurred and the horse had its heart attack whilst standing with about 20 other horses in preparation for a battle scene.
The first season of “The Rings of Power” was shot in New Zealand, but the second is taking place in the United Kingdom with a new horse supplier The Devil’s Horsemen. That organization has plenty of large-scale production experience such as “Game of Thrones,” “Wonder Woman,” and “The Crown”. This reportedly marks the first known horse fatality in the 50-year history of the company.
Amazon Studios has now released a statement this morning confirming the news. They say in a statement from a spokesperson:
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a production horse died on 21st March. The incident took place in the morning whilst the horse was being exercised prior to rehearsals. The trainer was not in costume and filming had yet to commence.
Both a veterinarian and a representative of the American Humane Association were present at the time. The independent necropsy has confirmed that the horse died of cardiac failure.”
Animals rights activists have subsequently condemned the death of a horse on the set with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) quickly issuing a statement about the incident. In it they call upon the entertainment industry to make changes so that productions no longer employ real horses. PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange says:
“It seems that living underground with the orcs is par for the course for the producers of ‘The Rings of Power,’ because they have the option to use CGI, mechanical rigs and other humane methods that wouldn’t run vulnerable horses to death on set.
PETA is calling on the show’s creators 0 and all other producers – to take on a new quest without using any real horses. If they can’t avoid exploiting animals for their art, they should find a new medium, because no one wants to see a spinoff for TV with torment as the theme.”
PETA released a similar statement in July last year following the death of a horse on the set of HBO’s “The Gilded Age”. A vet’s finding in that case was that the horse “likely died of natural causes”.
