Sunday, December 12, 2004

It's not the size of the horse.

The Bluegrass Farrier's Association holds a get together every year at the Kentucky Horsepark during the High Hope Steeplechase. At this years event we were all putting $1.00 in a hat and drawing out a number for a horse in each heat.
I let my daughters alternate drawing numbers and my eldest drew a fine long legged black on a particular race and a buddy of mine drew the #10 horse which couldn't have been 15 hands. It was a light bay and looked like a Hackney Pony out there with those monsters.
This heat of the High Hope is three miles over jumps. Think about that. That's quite a bit farther than your typical race. Each lap was one mile and we were standing just before the start/finish line. They had a walkup start and the big horses pulled away immediately. I poked fun at my friend who drew the diminutive little stallion. Not a chance for him.
Two miles later and the little guy was still chugging along third from last in a ten horse race. They went over a hill going away from us and were out of sight for about a half mile. When they reappeared the little fella was making a BIG move. By the time they reached the last jump, dead in front of us, he kicked in the afterburners and made mules of 'em. Won going away.

I am still amazed at the performance. Running that far with bigger horses; think how many more strides he had to take and how much faster his little feet had to move. Every horse out there was a descendant of derby winners and some of triple crown horses. Put that horses heart in the chest of one of those monsters and you'd have another Man-O-War.