I have read quite a bit about Buttermilk and Dale Evans but last week I received a posting on my face book from a cousin which had a story I had never heard about Buttermilk. I could not find the original source of the posting but I thought you would enjoy it.

HORSE  SHOPPING? THINK ADOPTION!

Too many people think of rescue horses as old, lame, or otherwise unappealing, and forget to even visit their local rescues when ‘horse shopping’. Do you remember Dale Evans and her horse, Buttermilk? Buttermilk was a day away from being slaughtered when rescued. He became one of the most famous horses in the world of films and television.

Here’s what you didn’t know about Buttermilk:
Buttermilk was a young colt when he was rescued by a cattle farmer on his way to the slaughterhouse. The farmer bought him from a horse trader and he had been severely abused which resulted in a very unkind demeanor. The new owners quickly began to work with him, and through lots of dedication and care he eventually came around to become a friendly, affectionate and playful horse.

After renaming the bubbly Quarter Horse Soda, Randall introduced Soda to Dale Evans because her movie horse Koko was too much to handle and also resembled Trigger too much. Dale fell in love with Soda and bought him immediately. He was renamed Buttermilk after Dale saw a cloud pattern in the sky that reminded her of the Hoagy Carmichael’s song, “Ole Buttermilk Sky.” Dale rode Buttermilk in almost all of Roy’s movies and in all but six of The Roy Rogers Show television episodes that aired from 1951-57.

A true Quarter Horse, Buttermilk displayed bursts of speed and could outrun Trigger. On the set, Roy asked Dale to please hold Buttermilk back when riding alongside him, since Trigger always had to lead.

Even after he died at the age of 31, he was a valuable horse. Like Trigger, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had Buttermilk stuffed, and he sold for $25,000.00 at the NYC Christie’s Auction, when the Roy Rogers estate was liquidated in 2010.

The Wannabe Cowboy