The Electric Horseman

The Electric Horseman is a 1979 film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.

Sonny Steele (Redford) is a washed-up rodeo star who was once a champion, but is now a drunk who is reduced to making cameos in a lit-up cowboy costume (earning his nickname) and hocking breakfast cereal. He is scheduled to appear in a commercial with Rising Star, a retired champion racehorse that the cereal company bought. When he arrives at the commercial shoot, he finds that they've shot the horse up with steroids to bulk him up, and drugged him to make him more docile on the set. Angry with Rising Star's mistreatment and disillusioned with the state of his life, he decides to take matters into his own hands. At a scheduled public appearance, he rides the horse right off the stage and sets out cross-country, picking up Hallie Martin (Fonda) a reporter who senses the story of a lifetime.

The Electric Horseman contains the following tropes:
""Some parts wake up faster than others. The broken parts take longer.""
 * The Alcoholic: Sonny
 * Cool Horse: Rising Star, a champion racehorse
 * Intrepid Reporter: Hallie Martin
 * New Old West
 * Not a Morning Person: Sonny, due to numerous injuries in his time on the rodeo circuit.


 * Somewhere an Equestrian Is Crying: In-universe. The advertising execs decide Rising Star looks too skinny and give him steroids to bulk him up for the commercials. Sonny doesn't take this well.