This article first appeared in the May 2022 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what's in the current issue, click here. 

The star of International Velvet, Tatum O'Neil. © Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo.

Young star's 'velvet' touch

By Suzy Jarratt

Tatum O’Neil was a fast learner on horseback, ensuring she looked genuine in her starring role aboard a real-life Olympic eventing champion in MGM’s 1978 production of International Velvet.

During pre-production, Tatum O’Neil worked hard on acquiring a British accent and even harder learning how to ride. All she had ever done before was trot around the hills of Southern California in a western saddle.

In Los Angeles she underwent intensive training with Marcia Williams, a member of the USEF National Show Jumping Hall of Fame who had previous film experience coordinating the riding sequences for The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit and The Horse with the Flying Tail.

Marcia was impressed with her pupil’s abilities, describing Tatum as a very fast learner. “In just two months she was jumping a course of three-foot fences which many new riders take four of five months to learn.”

Tatum was also proud of her achievements and wished she had continued with riding. “I had to do big jumps, and that was very hard and scary, but I was very confident,” she would later recall. “I never got thrown off the horse. I loved riding. I think I should have kept doing it. I would have had a much better life.”

Read the full article in the May 2022 issue of Equestrian Life magazine.