WILCO
03-13-2015, 10:08 AM
OK, time to play the Grinch a bit. . . .
Hidalgo is a good movie, but the guy that really "lived" that story
was a total con man. He told great stories about what he and his
horse had done in Arabian races, except it was all made up.
In an earlier thread, MtGun44 made a statement regarding Frank Hopkins (Hildago fame) that I'd not heard before. I did a little research and this is what I found:
http://www.frankhopkins.com/biography.html
28. Frank Hopkins - UPDATE
By John Fusco
XXXSince the official launch of Frankhopkins.com in 2003, nearly 10,000 emails have streamed into this site. That’s quite a number considering that very few people today ever heard of the man prior to the release of “Hidalgo.”
XXXE-mails from as far away as Brazil and Germany have expressed an interest in Frank T. Hopkins and/or Spanish Mustangs; many were simply fan letters—some from fans of the movie, some from new fans of Hopkins; a great many folks wanted to learn more about Frank and his life. But we never expected to hear from people who would help us learn more about him—people who knew Mr. Hopkins personally and who were surprised to hear his name in the media again after more than half a century.
XXXThe first to contact us were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Pyle, friends of Frank Hopkins’ from sixty years back; they’d been surprised to hear a familiar name on a local CBS news broadcast about “Hidalgo.” We were eager to travel and meet this salt-of-the-earth couple, respected livestock breeders who knew Frank in the 1940’s when they ran a riding stable at Pocantico Hills, NY. According to the Pyle’s, Frank was often a special guest at the adjacent Rockefeller Estate where both Walt and Edith had worked in security at various times. During these visits, the Pyle’s say, Hopkins rode Athabascan mustangs that few could get a saddle near, floated the teeth of horses deemed “untouchable,” and sometimes used his knowledge of Native American horse medicine to treat horses for worms.
XXXAll this while Frank was well into his 80’s.
XXXWalt’s father, Tom Pyle, was head of security for the Rockefeller’s for fifty years. He had known Frank for a long time, valuing him as a friend, horseman, and fellow naturalist (Hopkins, Walt says, endlessly impressed his father with his knowledge of medicinal plants). When Frank would visit the estate, his western saddle in the backseat of a 40’s auto, it became a special occasion. When asked what drew the old cowboy to the estate on Sundays, Walt Pyle smiles at the memory: “100 miles of bridle trails,” he says. It was where Old Frank could open up, and ride distance again. “And how,” Walt adds. “He was way up in years, but…I was amazed… what he could do with a horse.”
XXXEdith, now in her 80’s, had been a young distance rider herself, competing in 100-mile trail events five times. Hopkins’ name was renowned among her crowd and she took pride in knowing him. Today, she is still actively breeding race horses (she once owned Driving Drizzle when he won a dramatic victory at Rockingham Park). Her evaluation of the aging Hopkins’ equestrian skills: “He was quite a horseman. Oh, yes.”
XXXHearing from surviving friends of Frank Hopkins was an unexpected thrill, tempered only by the regret that we hadn’t heard from them earlier—before the movie, let alone the controversy that would surround its veracity.
XXXThat controversy, of course, was the impassioned crusade that came to be promoted as “the Hopkins Hoax.” This campaign against Frank was started by husband and wife founders of an international equestrian guild. The attacks appeared online while “Hidalgo” was still filming in the middle of the desert—a total surprise to all involved with the production. The would-be debunkers—who had never heard of Hopkins before the announcement of the movie-- began denouncing him as a fraud, a self-promoting charlatan, and “ghoul.” They, as many of you will recall, accused the filmmakers of making a propaganda piece as a metaphor for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A cowboy in the desert was their repeated protest (they obviously never researched my politics or Viggo’s more public ones). In an effort to debunk the movie, they would cite a lack of documentation for Hopkins’ rides. This observation came as no bombshell: these rides were not the Kentucky Derby, but rather underground, extreme distance contests—rarely, if ever, reported on or advertised.
More at this link: http://www.frankhopkins.com/articles28.html
Hidalgo is a good movie, but the guy that really "lived" that story
was a total con man. He told great stories about what he and his
horse had done in Arabian races, except it was all made up.
In an earlier thread, MtGun44 made a statement regarding Frank Hopkins (Hildago fame) that I'd not heard before. I did a little research and this is what I found:
http://www.frankhopkins.com/biography.html
28. Frank Hopkins - UPDATE
By John Fusco
XXXSince the official launch of Frankhopkins.com in 2003, nearly 10,000 emails have streamed into this site. That’s quite a number considering that very few people today ever heard of the man prior to the release of “Hidalgo.”
XXXE-mails from as far away as Brazil and Germany have expressed an interest in Frank T. Hopkins and/or Spanish Mustangs; many were simply fan letters—some from fans of the movie, some from new fans of Hopkins; a great many folks wanted to learn more about Frank and his life. But we never expected to hear from people who would help us learn more about him—people who knew Mr. Hopkins personally and who were surprised to hear his name in the media again after more than half a century.
XXXThe first to contact us were Mr. and Mrs. Walter Pyle, friends of Frank Hopkins’ from sixty years back; they’d been surprised to hear a familiar name on a local CBS news broadcast about “Hidalgo.” We were eager to travel and meet this salt-of-the-earth couple, respected livestock breeders who knew Frank in the 1940’s when they ran a riding stable at Pocantico Hills, NY. According to the Pyle’s, Frank was often a special guest at the adjacent Rockefeller Estate where both Walt and Edith had worked in security at various times. During these visits, the Pyle’s say, Hopkins rode Athabascan mustangs that few could get a saddle near, floated the teeth of horses deemed “untouchable,” and sometimes used his knowledge of Native American horse medicine to treat horses for worms.
XXXAll this while Frank was well into his 80’s.
XXXWalt’s father, Tom Pyle, was head of security for the Rockefeller’s for fifty years. He had known Frank for a long time, valuing him as a friend, horseman, and fellow naturalist (Hopkins, Walt says, endlessly impressed his father with his knowledge of medicinal plants). When Frank would visit the estate, his western saddle in the backseat of a 40’s auto, it became a special occasion. When asked what drew the old cowboy to the estate on Sundays, Walt Pyle smiles at the memory: “100 miles of bridle trails,” he says. It was where Old Frank could open up, and ride distance again. “And how,” Walt adds. “He was way up in years, but…I was amazed… what he could do with a horse.”
XXXEdith, now in her 80’s, had been a young distance rider herself, competing in 100-mile trail events five times. Hopkins’ name was renowned among her crowd and she took pride in knowing him. Today, she is still actively breeding race horses (she once owned Driving Drizzle when he won a dramatic victory at Rockingham Park). Her evaluation of the aging Hopkins’ equestrian skills: “He was quite a horseman. Oh, yes.”
XXXHearing from surviving friends of Frank Hopkins was an unexpected thrill, tempered only by the regret that we hadn’t heard from them earlier—before the movie, let alone the controversy that would surround its veracity.
XXXThat controversy, of course, was the impassioned crusade that came to be promoted as “the Hopkins Hoax.” This campaign against Frank was started by husband and wife founders of an international equestrian guild. The attacks appeared online while “Hidalgo” was still filming in the middle of the desert—a total surprise to all involved with the production. The would-be debunkers—who had never heard of Hopkins before the announcement of the movie-- began denouncing him as a fraud, a self-promoting charlatan, and “ghoul.” They, as many of you will recall, accused the filmmakers of making a propaganda piece as a metaphor for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A cowboy in the desert was their repeated protest (they obviously never researched my politics or Viggo’s more public ones). In an effort to debunk the movie, they would cite a lack of documentation for Hopkins’ rides. This observation came as no bombshell: these rides were not the Kentucky Derby, but rather underground, extreme distance contests—rarely, if ever, reported on or advertised.
More at this link: http://www.frankhopkins.com/articles28.html