Hi, rerun, you bring up something that has also mystified me for a while. I have read a number of interviews (not just one) where Ben said that about Bill Elliott -- that he (Ben) basically taught him (Elliott) to ride and he was never much of a rider. I was also confused by this, and I contacted Gene Blottner, author of Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography, and he confirmed that Elliott was indeed a very good horseman and had grown up around horses. I'm not a rider myself but Wild Bill on film always looked like an accomplished rider to me. So I think this is going to have to remain a mystery, as Ben would never lie about anyone. Either he was mistaken on which actor he was talking about or there was some aspect to Elliott's riding he didn't like. I don't think we're going to be able to solve this one.
That's funny about you having to make yourself ride "early cowboys style" on film! ;) Have you ever read Diana Cary Serra's book Hollywood Posse? It's a fascinating book about the first generation of riding stuntmen, most of whom got into movies when work on the ranches dried up in the first years of the 20th century. Diana Cary Serra was a child star herself in silent films, as Baby Peggy, but after a few years of stardom she grew up and her career evaporated. Her dad was a well-known member of the Hollywood posse, Jack Montgomery and she grew up knowing all those old-time movie stuntmen and riders.
P.S. That is so cool that you knew Wild Bill. I love his movies. By the way, the Warner Archive Collection recently released a set of the five hard-boiled DETECTIVE movies he made for Allied Artists, in case you're interested in seeing a different side of a favorite screen cowboy.
http://shop.warnerarchive.com/product/b ... rom=Search
Today's picture is also from The Undefeated. :)
![Image](http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx61/pvitari/Ben%20Pics%202014/Undefeated-3S-1_zpsb3dc2dc0.jpg)