A WILFHOLME livery yard has produced an unlikely film star in the form of dressage horse, Faldo.
Faldo, a dressage horse who was trained in events and dressage at Molineux competition and livery yard in Wilfholme near Driffield, is one of two horses to play the part of Topthorn, the best friend of main character, Joey, in Steven Spielberg’s latest release, War Horse.
Film producers contacted Toni Molineux, 33, who owns Molineux Yard, in 2010 after seeing an advert for Faldo on the internet.
Toni said: “They bought him from us in June or July 2010 because he looks just like the stunt horse that they already had to play Topthorn and he was very quiet.
“When they told me they were buying for Steven Spielberg I didn’t believe them.”
Toni, who has lived in the Driffield area for 14 years, opened Molineux Yard 12 years ago in its original premises. The yard is now situated on Three Jolly Tars Farm in Wilfholme, where it has been for eight years.
Nine year-old, Faldo who is the son of an internationally well-known dressage horse, originally hails from Leicestershire and was trained at Molineux Yard for just under nine months before being bought by film producers to star in the movie.
Toni, who went to see War Horse at the first available opportunity, admits that she spent the majority of the film, which is based on a children’s book by Michael Morpergo, looking for Faldo.
“It’s a good job I read the book when I was younger. We spent so much time looking for him that we ended up a bit lost,” Toni said.
Following his short-lived film career Faldo is back to what he does best - competing in dressage events - after being bought by one of the crew members who worked on the film.