(Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above, Tom Keene on his un-named paint horse during his 1930s films at RKO (where he also rode a black).  Later, Keene did two separate western series at Monogram Pictures --- a brief group in the late 1930s where he also rode a paint, and a 1941-1942 series where he used two horses --- Keene rode Rusty, the wonder horse, which was earlier utilized by Jack Randall during some of his Monogram films.  And then he rode Prince.  It's easy to tell the difference between Rusty (large face blaze) and Prince (no face blaze).  There's a photo of Rusty on the Trusty Steeds page for Jack Randall. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the cover of the pressbook for ARIZONA ROUNDUP (Monogram, 1942) ... note the reference to Keene's famous horse Prince.  (From Old Corral image collection) Above, muscular range hero George O'Brien rode Mike during his long stay at RKO in the second half of the 1930s.

The replacement for O'Brien at RKO was Tim Holt, and he rode at least four horses during a starring career that spanned about a dozen years at that studio. In the early 1940s, prior to leaving for WW2 military service, he rode Duke. There were several different mounts in his post-war films, one of which was Shiek as well as a palomino named Lightning.  As he neared the end of his western movie career, Holt rode a horse named Sun Dance. Below is Holt on his dominant post-World War II mount, the palomino Lightning. (Thanks to Denny Linser for jogging my memory on Shiek, and Pat Mefferd for the help on Holt riding Steel.)

(From Old Corral image collection) Above - sidekick Richard 'Chito' Martin and Tim Holt riding his palomino Lightning, which was his dominant post-WW2 mount.

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is a clipping from the pressbook for GUN SMUGGLERS (RKO, 1948).

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is tidbit from the pressbook for WAGON TRAIN (RKO, 1940) with info on Tim's Wonder Horse Duke.

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is from the pressbook for OVERLAND TELEGRAPH (RKO, 1951) announcing that Sun Dance was Tim Holt's new horse. OVERLAND TELEGRAPH was among Holt's last season of oaters which were released during 1951-1952.

(From Old Corral image collection) For some reason, Tim rode this horse in WILD HORSE MESA (RKO, 1947), and the trusty steed appears to be famous movie hoss Steel (who has a unique face blaze and three white socks).

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