Researching the equine wardrobe for Blaze and all the other ponies in the horse show scene took the producers to this barn at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here saddles are designed for the freedom of movement and therapeutic comfort of the horse. The saddle maker, Tad Coffin, was discovered to be so much like a character in the script that the producers were convinced including this horseman in the cast would capture the artistic authenticity of C.W. Anderson’s breathtakingly peaceful story.

 

Written into the script more than two decades earlier was the character of Billy’s grandfather, a real jumper, an Olympic champion, who taught Billy to sit Blaze so well. In reality, Tad Coffin is that Olympic champion.

 

There’s a time to appreciate the excellence in the world around us, and this grateful spirit is what we aspire to capture in a movie worthy of the classic title, Billy & Blaze, for future generations.