Factual error: In the scene where Spirit's mother is giving birth to Spirit, after she has him it shows Spirit as a newborn, with teeth. Newborn horses don't have a full set of teeth. (00:04:23)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Spirit is first captured by the U.S. soldiers, the rope around his front leg changes position from pulling his leg straight out in front of him to passing between his front legs and under his body, forcing his foreleg to bend. (00:17:15)
Other mistake: The scene where Spirit is tied to the post at the army fort the length of rope is longer than in the scene a couple of minutes later. (00:26:50)
Other mistake: Fleeing with Little Creek from the fort, Spirit destroys small railing to free horses tied to it. But after the pole gets torn off, it leaves an empty space on the ground, without any hole or at least broken remains.
Continuity mistake: When Spirit pretends to be dead while pulling locomotive, and they take the chains off him, he has a halter on his head. Yet two seconds later, the halter is gone.
Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the movie, when we first see the Cimarron herd galloping by, there are numerous horses that disappear and reappear as the camera angle changes.
Continuity mistake: When Spirit gets taken from his home there are two babies. As the movie goes, he is gone for a couple of seasons, because of the snow. When Spirit finally gets back home the two babies are still babies.
Revealing mistake: After Spirit gets his second wind when the Colonel is attempting to break him, he breaks the girth/cinch strap by catching it on the fence. At one brief point, the pole of the fence actually appears to pass between Spirit and the girth of the saddle.
Continuity mistake: When Spirit is on the train and arrives at the camp, the people are doing repetitive actions in the following shots.
Answer: You don't have to have mutual respect to do what is right or just. Letting Spirit escape was the morally right thing for the Colonel to do.
raywest ★