If horses could talk, what stories they might tell us about legends, kindness and unexpected friendship.  At least that's what this human would like to think, after my random encounter with one particular horse this past Friday night.  It was a chestnut colored stallion with a white smudge that caught my attention among the handful giants in the corral.  My wife and I met some friends for dinner, but before heading out we stopped by their small farm in the south metro to check out the horses.

 

Across the road from the home place they operate a small barn in collaboration with a non-profit called This Old Horse – a Hastings, MN group that rescues and cares for all kinds of horses - from retired racing thoroughbreds to “minis” to Doc the hinny (half horse, half mule) - neglected by previous owners, but given a second chance to run like the wind or putter around the stable.  

 

Big was his name and he seemed a little standoffish at first.  There was something special about him; his body language telling a story of sorts.  We were separated by a stockade fence.  I quickly sensed it was attention and affection the old boy wanted: a pat of the neck, a few kind words, and then something clicked between us.  He approached, then followed along as I walked the fence line.  We became "friends" last Friday evening.  He stood by patiently, like a sentinel, while I snapped a few photos. 

 

“You know who he’s related to?” our friend asked.  I had no idea.  Big’s grandsire (grandpa) was another famous chestnut with a white smudge on his forehead.  I found out later that his lines run back to famous Meadow Farm in Caroline County, Virginia.  Born in March 1970, it would be 3 years later (June 9, 1973) that the senior stallion nicknamed Big Red  would cross the finish line by 31 lengths at Belmont Park on Long Island, New York.  It was the largest margin of victory in that historic race, a feat that still stands to this day (2018 was the 150^th running).  At the time, Big Red  became the 105^th winner of the Belmont Stakes and the 9^th winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown.  There are now 13 Triple Crown winners after Justify and jockey Mike Smith, combined to win the 2018 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown this past Saturday in Elmont, New York.

 

Big’s grandsire was better known as the race legend Secretariat (1970-1989).  Today, Secretariat’s prodigy stands happily in a small pasture in Inver Grove Heights, equine greatness in his own right, “telling” horse tales and making new, unexpected friends.  Perhaps, he might have been trying to tell me about another horse over a 1,000 miles away poised to do something very special the next day.  Horses seem to know.

 

For more information on This Old Horse check out this link: http://www.thisoldhorse.org/.  You can read more about Big and his girlfriend Gigi - a descendent of Seattle Slew (1977 Triple Crown winner).

 

GF