Westworld's Treatment Of Real Horses Left One HBO Star Extremely Frustrated

When "Westworld" first arrived on HBO in 2016, the show was poised to become one of the biggest series on the prestige television network, and for a time, it was. However, as the show drifted away from its neo-western roots, many fans began to lose interest in the series until it was inevitably canceled in 2022.

Of course, one of the key Western aspects that viewers saw less and less of as "Westworld" entered Seasons 3 and 4 was horses. However, according to an actor who worked on the series, that might have been the best thing that could have happened to the four-legged creatures.

Sidse Babett Knudsen appeared in nine episodes of the show's first season as Theresa Cullen, the head of quality assurance at Westworld, and in an interview with Variety, she opened up about the horses' poor treatment on set. "In the U.S., they don't have a flat hierarchy, which won't surprise anyone," Knudsen said. "I would knock on the producers' door all the time, saying: 'These horses have been out in the sun for 10 hours; they are going to f***ing die ... They are not even working today –- get them in the shade!'"

Knudsen also revealed that due to her background in Danish films and television, what she saw on the set of "Westworld" was especially shocking. "As a Dane, I was just looking at the resources, money, and logic, going: 'It's crazy!'" she recalled. "But, of course, it's super irritating when an actress talks about horses all the time. How did they react? Not well."

Unfortunately, "Westworld" has been further plagued by accusations of animal mistreatment. In 2018, the series was accused of using abused animals on its set. HBO pointed out that the abuse of the elephants happened before they appeared on the show and that they had a member of American Humane on-set, but PETA rebutted this, saying that HBO also had a representative from the organization on the set of the horse racing drama "Luck." 

That series was notoriously shut down due to the deaths of several horses onset. The scandal was particularly surprising because the series was backed by heavy hitters like "Deadwood" creator David Milch, filmmaker Michael Mann, and marquee star Dustin Hoffman.

While no horses ultimately died as a result of the alleged negative and insensitive treatment on "Westworld," knowing these facts may hinder the enjoyment of fans who go back to rewatch the series from the start. After all, even family-friendly films like "Flicka" and "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" remain stained by the fact that animals were killed on their sets.