Lord Of The Rings' Viggo Mortensen Took Home These Iconic Horses From The Trilogy
It's hard to imagine what being part of an eight-year, $280 million, three-movie production (via 100% Pure New Zealand) must be like. Over that amount of time, a person not only grows and changes themselves but can develop multiple bonds with others as well, and living and working with the same group of people for nearly a decade inherently lends to the forming of long-term friendships.
Keeping true to the stories J.R.R. Tolkien provided in "The Lord of the Rings," people weren't the only living beings present on set to develop friendships with, however. As can be seen on-screen throughout the entire trilogy, horses are the main means of travel for the human (and non-human) characters in Middle-earth, and Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn, developed an attachment to the two beauties he rode in the films. It turns out, he walked away from the experience with more than just memories.
Viggo Mortensen gained two close friends
While plenty of friendships no doubt developed between the cast and crew during the eight years of filming the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, there were also bonds developed between people and animals. Mortensen told IGN how the time he spent with the two horses he rode on made it hard for him to say goodbye at the end of filming.
"I bought the two horses I rode in 'Lord of the Rings," Mortensen said. "Even though I wasn't with [Eurayus] all the time, I just developed a real good friendship with him." Eurayus wasn't the only horse to become part of Mortensen's family after production, however. "There's another horse named Kenny that I ride in the beginning of 'The Two Towers,'" Mortensen explained. "I just wanted Eurayus to have a buddy."
Although Mortensen only ended up with these two horses from "The Lord of the Rings," he also purchased a third one in an act of generosity. After production, he kindly bought another horse named Florian for riding double Jane Abbott. In the documentary short "Home of the Horse Lords," Mortensen expressed his gratitude for the trilogy's horse department. "We all got a lot of help. I mean, the horse department was very loyal, affectionate, and extremely helpful to the actors," he said.