Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Had a Tough Time Wrangling Horses + Wagons on the Set of ‘1883’

Learning to thrive in their 1883 starring roles has been quite the journey for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill: An intimate bathtub scene pushed Hill outside her comfort zone, and the superstar couple have had to adapt to a rugged onset experience (even sometimes without amenities like port-a-potties).

But one particular challenge of filming the show, McGraw says in a new interview with his record label, came in the form of driving a wagon.

"I mean, I grew up riding horses, but being on the wagon was something that was really intense and really took a lot of work," the singer says.

"And Faith spends the most time drivin' the wagon during the show, so she spent a lot of time doing that to where she's pretty expert at it now," McGraw continues. "I mean, that's a harder deal than people think it is, to drive a wagon. Those things can get really serious really quickly, especially when crossing the river. It's just so treacherous and so dangerous. I mean, you never knew where the holes were in the river. You never knew how deep it was."

But McGraw's character, James Dutton, is no slouch when it comes to high-stakes horseback stunts, either.

"Just about every scene I shot with my horse he was trying to throw me in the middle of the river," he explains. "I had one scene where my horse is raring up. Its hooves are slashing in the air and my hat falls, I catch it and put it back on. It shows the chaos and the danger and the precarious situation that everybody was in."

1883 airs on Sunday via Paramount+.

Stay tuned to Taste of Country as we provide ongoing coverage of both Yellowstone and 1883, including episode analysis, news on the shows, cast interviews and more. As part of our comprehensive coverage, check out the Dutton Rules podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.