Spacebiscuit Bolts from Stable Read for Star Wars: Episode IX
Skywalker Ranch, CA — The first “stable read” for the animals of Star Wars: Episode IX suffered a setback as trophy horse Spacebiscuit panicked and ran amok throughout the grounds of the 15-acre estate.
According to creature handler Hamish Secrett, something set off the Hanoverian mare who is normally mild-mannered and perfectly at ease reading lines with other animals.
“I think one of the finches pecked at her tail, which set the pigs off laughing during Spacebiscuit’s big monologue, and naturally, that set her off.”
It took over two hours and a team of six wranglers and two script coordinators to finally return the high-strung horse to the stable read. To prevent any more incidents, Secrett warned the other performers and threatened to withhold treats if the shenanigans continued. The animal trainer believes the entire incident was caused by resentment towards the superstar horse, who boasts nearly 12 million Instagram followers thanks to her appearance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
“She’s put in the work, and that should be respected by man, bird and pig alike,” said Secrett.
In addition to being a social media influencer, Spacebiscuit has more on-camera experience than any of her animal co-stars. The finches, who appear as Converee in the film thanks to slight CG enhancements, have only been in a handful of direct-to-video nature videos, while the amateur pigs (who are mocapping and voice acting a group of Ugnaughts) are even greener, with but a pair of barnyard productions under their belt.
Fortunately, order was restored and no further incidents were reported during the stable read. And, believe it or not, there is an upside to all the chaos. Secrett views the ordeal as practice for the session scheduled for June, which will include lizard performers brought in to read dinosaur scenes for director Colin Trevorrow.
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