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Tom Tyler - The Man With Many Horses

I'm now even more confused about Tom Tyler and his stable of hosses.  He rode many cayuses during his tenure as a B western hero, and some of the named animals are purportedly Flashlight, Ace, Baron, Red, and Boy. Re-looking at Tyler videos, he appears to have used at least 7 different animals (counting the white he rode during his Republic Three Mesquiteers films).

Anyone have any publicity photos of Tyler with his horses from his 1930s films ... or better yet, does anyone have any 1930s pressbooks on Tyler's films, as those may include some info on his hoss ???


Horse #1 - above and right, Tyler during his silent days at FBO in the late 1920s. Notice the width and length of the face blaze on this horse and the white socks on the rear legs only.

Tradezines from the late 1920s indicate this horse was named Flashlight.

(Courtesy of Boyd Magers)

Above - crop from a lobby card from THE SONORA KID (FBO, 1927).



Horse #2 is seen in Tyler's early sound films. It was much lighter in color that Flashlight, and had a long, irregular shaped face blaze and four white socks.  Among the films in which Tyler rode this horse are: WEST OF CHEYENNE (Syndicate, 1931) and WHEN A MAN RIDES ALONE (Freuler/Monarch, 1933).

The image on the right is a screen capture from WHEN A MAN RIDES ALONE (Freuler/Monarch, 1933).




(Courtesy of Boyd Magers)

Above, crop from a lobby card from TRIGGER TOM (Reliable, 1935).

Horse #3, which is named Boy, is black and was another of the horses that Tyler rode during the mid 1930s.  However, there's no face blaze or leg markings.  Other oaters in which Tyler rode this particular animal in DEADWOOD PASS (Freuler/Monarch, 1933), THE SILVER BULLET (Reliable, 1935), and TERROR OF THE PLAINS (Reliable, 1934).

The announcement on the right about Boy is from the pressbook on MYSTERY RANCH. That film was part of the same release schedule which included THE SILVER BULLET and TERROR OF THE PLAINS.


(Courtesy of Les Adams)



(From Old Corral collection)



(From Old Corral collection)

In TERROR OF THE PLAINS (Reliable, 1934), Tom has his right arm around Charles "Slim" Whitaker and his left arm is restraining William Gould.  Tom's cayuse (no face blaze) is on the left.




(From Old Corral collection)

Horse #4 - above, Tom Tyler with his white horse (possibly Baron), and on the far right is supporting player Benny Corbett, in COYOTE TRAILS (Reliable, 1935).  Benny Corbett was a frequent player in 1930s westerns and is best remembered as the second half of the Bud 'n' Ben western series (which generally starred Jack Perrin in the lead).

Below, Tyler was riding a white cayuse in the 1930 cliffhanger, PHANTOM OF THE WEST. In one of the early chapters, Tyler calls the horse Pal ... but 'pal' may have been just a term for the horse, and not a name. Tyler also rode a rather mangy looking white in GOD'S COUNTRY AND THE MAN (A MAN'S COUNTRY) (Syndicate, 1931).


(From Old Corral collection)


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