A Triple Crown of Horse Stories

Man o’ War, Black Gold, The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost

Somehow another year has passed and, once again, I’ve missed the Kentucky Derby.  Yes, the closest I came to the Derby this year was mixing up the non-alcoholic mint julep punch and picking up the pecan tassies from the local bakery for our showing of Secretariat on the big screen the following weekend.  Thankfully, it is far from over.  The Preakness will be run tomorrow, the second leg in the Triple Crown.  Then the Belmont Stakes will be run in Elmont, New York in June. 

Why this interest in horse racing?  Do I have a closet addiction to gambling?  No, my (not-so-closet) addiction is to the pecan tassies, but even more to the horses.  As a young girl, I definitely had horse fever.  In all fairness, I’d say it’s a fairly normal obsession for a young girl and there were a number of things that fed my obsession. 

You could say a love of horses runs in my blood.  My maternal grandmother’s cousin was a veterinarian at Claiborne Farms in Kentucky, where Secretariat, that big hearted, triple crown winning, record setter retired.  Secretariat couldn’t help but leave an impression on anyone. 

Distantly related to Secretariat, was another “Big Red” named Man O’War.  Most people think of The Black Stallion when they hear Walter Farley’s name but nothing ever equaled the story telling that I read in his fictionalized account of Man O’War.  Perhaps that was because Man O’War was a real horse and one that Farley saw in person, the memory engraved on his mind and related in the foreward to the book. 

Though the book is purportedly for children, I think that's because the main character is a young man and the reading level is low enough to be easy for anyone.  But the story is gripping and 350 pages is a long enough novel for most.  It is a fictionalized account of the life of a real horse, told through the eyes of a fictional groom.  If you like horses and you haven’t read Man O’War, you’re in for a great read.

Besides the horses in books, real horses surrounded me as a child.  Close enough to touch, but often not close enough to ride.  On alternating Friday nights, the iron hitching post that served as a property marker of my parent’s land became more than a relic of distant times.  Horses trotted up and down the street of my small village as people tried them out before the auction at Chamber’s barn, just a few houses down and across the street. 

I could walk over to the barn on the corner and look in the window at the big, beautiful work horses the owners still used to work the fields.  Most days of the week, I could see horses roaming the field as I looked between houses, walking down the street to school. I still remember where the books on horses were in my elementary school library.   

That was where I found Black Gold by Marguerite Henry.  “The time of year is May, and already the bluestem grass is nearly stirrup high.  On either side of the Chisholm Trail it ripples across the broad grazing grounds on its way to meet the sky.”  It is a lyrical story that relates the tale of a legendary horse in Henry’s picturesque prose.  Black Gold won his last race “on three legs and a heart,” having broken his leg just above the ankle.  This story has stayed with me for nearly three decades.

I was already certifiably horse crazy when a friend asked me if I wanted to earn a few dollars walking polo horses during matches at the Susquehanna Stables, across the river.  I was in heaven walking these graceful animals after they were tired out from playing polo.  I remember one sweet mare named Dolly who would rest her head on my shoulder as we walked. 

Another friend owned a horse in my middle school years and I was eager to do whatever I could just to be around a horse, including happily mucking out a stall. Then there were the horses owned by my friends, whose parents rented my grandmother’s barn and fields.  Everywhere I went, there were horses.

I don't remember where I found it but another book that always stood out in my memory was The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost by Phyllis Whitney.  What could be better than the combination of a horse and a mystery?  I think I read this book over and over again.  It has the typical set up of a young girl on vacation away from her parents, this time at her aunt’s house.  She loves horses and there is one across the lake that she just might be allowed to ride but there is something standing in her way, a crimson ghost dog. 

While these stories are appropriate for children and are often shelved in that area, I highly recommend them for anyone who loves horses and enjoys a good story.  I may just have to read them again myself.