If I needed a good one-liner right quick, he would give me a good routine. Like the sidekick, the hero's horse might inject a note of humor now and then. The horse might give the hero, ever bashful with women, a nudge in the back which pushes him into the heroine's arms. Some B western cowboy stars even gave equal billing to their horses. The Bs appealed to youngsters, especially to little boys.
Children love animal stories, so the heroic horses of the movies had great audience appeal.
We cannot imagine the Lone Ranger without Silver or Tonto without Scout. William S. Hart rode Fritz, and Fred Thomson ran down the bad guys astride Silver King. Tom Mix's Tony and Ken Maynard's Tarzan had nearly as many fans as their masters. Serials or cliffhangers often played with feature westerns. The serials distill and exaggerate B western formula.