Why does Beth Dutton hate riding horses on ‘Yellowstone?’

You’d think that everyone in the Dutton clan would be an expert horse rider. Yet, as we’ve seen in Yellowstone, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

While Kayce and his parents are practically horse whisperers, the clan’s daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) is about as far from an equestrian as you can get. With her sharp tongue, ability to stir the pot, and devastating attacks on those she dislikes, it seems like it would be quite hard to get to her. That is, until you mention horses.

Beth has shown several times throughout the series that she has a phobia of the four-legged creatures. Despite growing up on a huge ranch that requires the animals, they seem to be her kryptonite. While this shows her devotion to the ranch is because of her (admittedly, messed up) love of her dysfunctional and toxic family as opposed to a love of nature, it does beg the question: How did a child of one of the largest ranches in the United States end up afraid of horses?

If you want to know why Beth Dutton hates riding horses on Yellowstone, then you can find out below!

Why does Beth Dutton hate riding horses on Yellowstone?

Some fans have suggested that Beth’s dislike of horses stems from the fact she’s become a city girl, and isn’t keen on much that reminds her of nature. However, it’s clear the fear is rooted much deeper than that.

As it turns out, like many phobias and traumas, Beth’s fear of riding comes from a childhood incident. As a girl she was already relatively wary of the big creatures (a smart move, as they can be very skittish), but her fears weren’t entertained by her parents. This was especially true of her hardnosed mother Evelyn, who has been shown to be a distant and occasionally cruel parent on many occasions. So, she was often made to ride despite her phobia.

Perhaps this immersion therapy might have worked if it weren’t for one fateful incident. While on a horse ride one day with her mother and brother, Beth saw Evelyn topple from her horse. It then became worse: The animal, off balance, collapsed onto Evelyn and crushed her. Although the Dutton matriarch obviously survived this horrific and traumatic incident, it left a huge scar on Beth’s psyche.

This was compounded by the fact Evelyn blamed Beth for spooking the horse and making it buck her off, and in turn made her run all the way back to the house to get her father to help. So, Beth was blamed for hurting her mother, and for however long it took for her to go to and from the house, the young girl would have thought she’d killed the woman who’d given birth to her. A pretty reasoable explanation for a phobia, really.

We do see Beth try to get over this fear a few times throughout the series. One of the most notable is towards the tail end of season 1, when she and Walker (Ryan Bingham) get to talking about horses, and she allows the cowboy to give her a brief riding lesson. It’s a jumpy scene, and Reilly acts the fear out well, but nobody falls, so it’s definitely an improvement on her earlier experiences. With that said, Beth’s phobia of horses is relatively well established at this point, so we probably won’t see her turning into the breaking-in master that her brother is. However, as we saw at the end of season 5, the city girl banker does return to the farm to brand all the cattle, so it’s not a lost cause.

Ironically, Reilly is considered to be one of the best horse riders on the cast, as confirmed by Yellowstone showrunner Taylor Sheridan. Funnily enough, she also rides the least in general, which shows just how far natural talent can take you when it comes to the activity.

Reilly has also confirmed this talent in an interview with The Cinemaholic. Speaking to the outlet, she said:

“I grew up riding but I’m the only character that doesn’t really ride in the show but I have ridden all my life. I have over the years ridden a lot of Western but I grew up riding English and I was also a groom for a polo club.”