Show horse. When Dale Evans was signed to be the co-star of Roy Rogers, the studio was under the impression, she being from Texas, was proficient in horsemanship.  However, she had never before been in a saddle and was unable to ride.  Lessons were arranged and she became an expert rider. It was determined that the horse originally used by Dale Evans was too much a look alike to Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger and was replaced by one owned by Hollywood animal trainer Glenn Randall.  Dale became attached to the gelding, purchased him thus ending a long search for the perfect horse. The buckskin Quarter Horse, with dark points, was actually faster from the blocks than Trigger which irked Roy and required retakes in scenes when Dale broke away faster speeding to the rescue.  The fact this horse survived its early life and made it to Hollywood is indeed amazing.  As a colt, he was rescued by a cattle farmer who bought him from a horse trader while being taken with others to a slaughter house.  He had been severely abused and was very mean.  The new owners named him Taffy and began training him to become a cutting competition horse and eventually the animal came around to assume a friendly and affectionate disposition.  Glen Randall always looking for animals to train, noticed him while appearing with his Liberty Troupe, saw him in competition at the Minatare rodeo in Nebraska and purchased the animal.  So-Taffy ended up in Hollywood.  With Dale Evans astride, and given the name Buttermilk, the steed appeared in all but six of the Roy Rogers Show television episodes that aired Sundays from 1951 to 1957.  Buttermilk died at age 31 and given the same treatment as his counterpart Trigger.  His hide was stretched over a plaster likeness and put on display at the Roy-Rogers-Dale Evans Museum then located in Victorville, California. The excellent mounting was done by Bishoff’s Taxidermy of California.  Due to dwindling attendance and with the death of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the museum was moved from Victorville to Branson, Missouri,  where it finally closed in December 2009. As of July 2010 Buttermilk was to be sold at auction. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)