Harry Morgan actually owned the horse that Colonel Potter cherishes on M*A*S*H

Producers expected Morgan to have a hobby like golf, but that's horse hockey! He'd rather be riding than driving.

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Col. Potter gets his beloved horse, Sophie
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Watching M*A*S*H, we see actors tossing footballs or driving golf balls, and it turns out that on-camera "skills" like these were part of the audition process when casting the show.

So when Harry Morgan came on as Colonel Potter, producers asked him what he liked to do in his free time, hoping to find out about a fun way they could use Morgan on camera. He surprised them by not answering golf or football like most folks. Instead, Morgan said his hobby was horses.

At home with his wife in Santa Rosa, California, Morgan owned a ranch on 15 acres, where he raised quarter horses — not to race them, but just as beloved pets.

"Been up there 20 years," Morgan told The Wichita Eagle in 1982. "Used to raise quarter-horses. But working on M*A*S*H, I had little time to enjoy them."

It must've helped a little, then, that M*A*S*H producers took Morgan's hobby and incorporated it into Colonel Potter's character immediately, making him a cavalryman and giving him a horse named Sophie to appear in some episodes of the show.

Attentive fans have picked up on the fact that Sophie was not just one horse "actor," but many, as the show would work with whatever horse they could get on set for the day. But at least this means Morgan got to meet a bunch of new horses to pass the time with!

And you should know that for the final appearance of Sophie in the M*A*S*H finale, Morgan told The Pittsburgh Post Gazette in 2011 that producers brought in one of Morgan's own quarter horses for the special scene where Potter says goodbye to Sophie.

Now when you see that touching scene, you'll not only know that he's being tender with his own pet, but also that the truth is it was no goodbye at all — Sophie went home with Harry when the credits rolled!

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24 Comments

TheFanFromUNCLE 7 months ago
Wonderful story. Having lived in Kentucky for 20 years, I got to appreciate horses more and now I see them as beautiful and majestic creatures.
garydasnail 13 months ago
But I love this show I watch it over and over again. Can't stop watching it. Mash is the best. But yea male to female horse does bug me a lot. But other than that it's awsum. The only good acting the guy that plays hork eye has ever done. Every other movie after that he's done is rubbish. But yea mash was awsum
garydasnail 13 months ago
My prob is the error they Made in the show the original horse that radar gave Potter was a male. And he called it boy. But then it be came a girl. So what happened to the boy horse is there a story to that or was mental mental to be the same horse if so why did the actors first call it a boy and then later she. It is confusing that there was 2 sexs of horses
RubyO 32 months ago
Even better the picture of Mrs. Mildred Potter on Col. Potter's desk is Harry Morgan's wife. He really embraced the role.
Spiro 35 months ago
John Wayne used his own horse in most of his movies. It has white on the bridge of his nose.
Pegs 35 months ago
What annoys the daylights out of me is "The Wounded Horse" which Radar gives to that old horseman is referred to as "he/him" at least for that episode, & I believe one or two more. Then the horse becomes a female, Sophie. Colonel Potter couldn't tell the difference? Sorry to be a crank, MASH was probably the worst program when it came to continuity. And it really annoys me (semi-lol).
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JHP Pegs 33 months ago
watch TAGS
Pegs JHP 33 months ago
I can't stand Andy Griffith - in anything - so no, I don't think I will. But, thanks.
JHP Pegs 33 months ago
when it comes to continuity - TAGS is thee worst
JHP Pegs 33 months ago
Lord almighty someone else with sense:)

Jimo 35 months ago
Just the facts ,just the facts.
LoveMETV22 35 months ago
Interesting.... I remember the episode where Radar gives Col Potter Sophie as a gift,and the episode where Col Potter lets one of the Villagers Dad take Sophie and the dad ending up dying. But didn't know he had his own horse.
djw1120 LoveMETV22 35 months ago
Actually it was the villager's Grandfather not her Father.
When she returned Sophie the next day, she told Potter that he ws a proud man and died in peace.
LoveMETV22 djw1120 34 months ago
Thank You djw1120. My error.
Andybandit 35 months ago
Wow, I had no idea Harry Morgan owned Sophie the horse.
Andybandit 35 months ago
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Wiseguy Andybandit 35 months ago
As the article states, it was just the horse used in the finale.
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