I loved this movie. I haven't seen it since I was a child, but I doubt this movie would have been so popular if they abused the animals. You should watch the end credits and at the end they put a 'No animals were harmed in the making of this film' thingie. I saw a movie once and I could have sworn what the did to this horse was real cause it looks amazingly real. So I waited till the end of the credits to see it was one of those stuffed things..can't remember the name of them..I don't believe that they hurt any animals in it.